Every year thousands of migrants come to work in Canada. From harvesting the food in our stores to caring for the elderly, these workers form a vital part of the economy. Yet despite being critical, they often face harsh conditions, isolation, abuse, injury and even death as a result of immigration policies designed to leave them powerless.
Documentary filmmaker and OCAD University professor Min Sook Lee has been documenting the voices of migrant farm workers in Canada for two decades. What she has to say about the treatment of these workers during COVID-19 shatters any remaining myths about «Canada the Good.» How do we treat the workers who put food on our tables?
Listen to it in the following audio, Episode 4 of the podcast Don’t Call Me Resilient, produced by The Conversation.
For a full transcript of this episode of Don’t Call Me Resilient, go here.
Every week, the podcast highlights articles that drill down into the topics discussed in the episode. On this one:
- Fay Faraday explains the history and racist policies that define Canada’s immigration programs.
- Peter Vandergeest, Melissa Marschke and Peter Duker highlight the treatment of migrant workers elsewhere in the world and the lessons Canada should learn.
- Raluca Bejan and Kristi Allain write about profits trumping COVID-19 protections for migrant seafood workers in Atlantic Canada
This podcast was published by The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence on February 24, 2021. It was hosted and produced by Vinita Srivastava. Full credits here.