Migrant farm workers ‘scattered’ as Summerland wildfire displaces thousands

As the Bald Range wildfire rages near Summerland, farmers are anxiously waiting as their harvest is interrupted and their workers are left in limbo.

When the entire town was evacuated, thousands of residents fled to Penticton’s emergency support centre, but migrant workers found themselves in a uniquely difficult situation.

“Our workers are scattered throughout Penticton in different churches. The churches have taken them in because they don’t actually get the same access as a Canadian citizen,” Summerland orchardist and president of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, Deep Brar told iNFOnews.ca.

Brar was one of thousands evacuated as the Bald Range wildfire tore through. As he and his family prepared to leave the farm, he roused the Mexican workers around 1:30 a.m. to gather their important documents and follow them to Penticton.

“The first night was brutal, they basically slept on the ground,” he said. “I don’t blame anyone for that. No one would have been able to anticipate how many people were coming.”

Brar keeps in contact with those workers, mainly through an online group chat, and they’re among “a few hundred” migrant workers now staying in the community.

The first night at the emergency support centre was “chaotic,” but those workers weren’t eligible for the same government resources.

According to the Migrant Workers Centre of BC, government rules for the temporary foreign worker program leave them with few places to turn. They do qualify for some provincial emergency supports, but they risk running their pocketbooks dry.

“People are heavily reliant on this income and because of the way our system is set up, they’re not able to work anywhere else,” the non-profit’s legal director Jonathan Braun told iNFOnews.ca.

They often cannot transfer to a new employer once migrant workers are approved to come to Canada, and many will not have enough work hours banked to qualify for employment insurance despite paying into the system.

“So they’re completely without income and they don’t have access to these emergency supports,” he said.

Braun said the society has lobbied the federal government to adjust the employment insurance program for emergency situations in the past, suggesting the COVID-19 pandemic showed it can be done, but it depends on a political “willingness.”

The society has also lobbied the province to clarify its guidance for working in smokey conditions, and to ensure employers are keeping them safe from toxic levels of smoke exposure, he said.

It’s not clear when those in Summerland might return to work on their farms. Brar is among many waiting to get temporary access in the short-term, but he’s not hopeful he can harvest much of the orchard this season.

He said his Mexican employees are in “good spirits” and want to get back to work. While in limbo, he said it’s “ridiculous” they aren’t awarded the same support as the rest of the evacuees.

“Without them, we wouldn’t be farming,” Brar said.