Health unit stops issuing ID cards for Norfolk’s migrant farm workers

Haldimand-Norfolk's health unit has stopped issuing ID cards for migrant farm workers after public outcry.

Dr. Shanker Nesathurai confirmed on Wednesday that the blank cards - which were not mandatory and up to the worker or their employer to fill out - are no longer being included among resources given to local farmers.

The cards had fields for the worker's name, place of work with contact information, and their date of arrival to Canada. Nesathurai said the cards were conceived as a form of identification that could also verify whether offshore workers had completed their mandatory two-week quarantine.

But farmers led by Dusty Zamecnik, chair of the county's agriculture advisory board, said the cards smacked of racial profiling, a charge Norfolk County CAO Jason Burgess dismissed as unwarranted.

Burgess linked the complaints to farmers' frustration over the health unit's three-person limit on bunkhouse occupancy during quarantine, as detailed in a Section 22 order issued March 24.

That order remains in force after a contentious board of health meeting on Tuesday.

In a 6-3 vote, the board - which consists of Norfolk County councillors and Mayor Kristal Chopp - voted down a motion tabled by Coun. Kim Huffman asking Nesathurai to amend the order, which some farmers say has hampered their ability to bring in enough migrant workers to plant and harvest their crops.

Instead, Nesathurai agreed to review the policy - put in place, he argued, to prevent large-scale outbreaks on farms - and report back in two weeks.

Farmer Brett Schuyler has appealed the Section 22 order, arguing that subjecting Haldimand-Norfolk farmers to stricter rules than those laid out by the federal and provincial governments puts local farms at a disadvantage.

The appeal goes before the province's Health Services Appeal and Review Board on May 25.

J.P. Antonacci's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.