Last week, Ontario’s Labour Minister Monte McNaughton introduced legislation that he celebrates as “cracking down on the scumbags” who take advantage of migrant workers. In reality, the proposed changes will make no meaningful difference in the lives of most migrants.
In the press conference and in the accompanying media materials, McNaughton framed the policies as a way to crack down on migrant exploitation, like in the case of the recent “rescue” of 64 Mexican migrants in the so-called Project Norte.
That is untrue.
The proposed Bill 79 — Working for Workers Act, 2023 — will increase existing penalties under the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (EPFNA) for employers and recruiters who confiscate a foreign national’s passport or work permit. But EPFNA only applies to workers who have valid work permits, or who are in the process of making an application for a work permit.
None of those 64 workers are covered by the act because they came to Canada on tourist visas and were not working through the temporary foreign worker program. We know this because we supported some of those workers to exit the situation prior to the police intervention.
The 64 workers endured gruelling long hours. They were paid just $13 an hour, despite being promised a lot more. They lived in inhumane, substandard conditions. The stories were horrifying but are not an exception.
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