16 LABOUR


involved, and received a sympathetic hearing. Officials from Service Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada were also present. “What we are pushing for is that some situations be looked at immediately so the current delays in the process are overcome as soon as possible [and] the whole thing doesn’t put farmers at risk of financial damage,” Lee told Country Life in BC afterwards. “We’re hopeful that there will be changes to the processes, certainly in order for there not to be as many problems next year as this year.” The big changes won’t happen overnight but ESDC has waived the two-week advertising requirement for farmers seeking to replace or transfer workers secured through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) and agricultural stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). “This change is effective immediately and is a positive first step in the streamlining of this program,” Lee says. Additional changes could


be an “uphill battle,” however, as streamlining needs to respect the fact that SAWP and TFWP participants are similar but not the same. SAWP is a government-to-


government program outside the control of federal bureaucrats, while TFWP is under ESDC. However, fears exist that there’s a push to


collapse SAWP into the agricultural stream of TFWP. “Our main problem right


now is that government is trying to lump them all together,” Lee said. “They assure us that that’s not the case.”


One thing is clear, however.


Growers want the issues resolved, so they know what they’re up against. “The procedures and


decisions appear to be ad hoc, arbitrary and detached from commercial time sensitivities,” said Cummings, a long-time chief operating officer with Houweling Nurseries Ltd. of Delta. “This program was working somewhat under Harper’s regime and now we’re dealing with chaos, and they’ve got to fix it.”


Gone to pot The federal push to legalize


recreational cannabis is also creating fallout for greenhouse growers, with 96 acres of production lost in the past year. BCGGA treasurer Ray Van


Marrewyk of Westcoast Vegetables Ltd. in Delta said he doesn’t expect further shrinkage in 2018. While the decline means a drop in levies collected from growers, the association is taking a wait- and-see approach. “We’re down about $40,000


in revenue for the fees for this year,” Van Marrewyk said. “We have projected a loss this year.” BCGGA has reserves that


will cover the shortfall, budgeted to approach $84,000, so it will delay raising levies until the cannabis


nfrom page 15


market establishes itself and the exact state of affairs is known.


“Some analysts are saying that, all things remaining equal, high-tech greenhouse area dedicated to growing cannabis is about three times that which is required by the existing recreational market in Canada,” Cummings remarked. “So, my speculation is that some greenhouse areas may ultimately return to vegetable production once the dust settles after our true domestic and export demand becomes known.”


The scramble to set up cannabis farms in advance of the expected legalization of recreational weed this summer is pushing up prices of many inputs for growers, and while decreased acreage may boost prices for some crops, there’s no guarantee. The association’s overall financial position remains strong with assets in 2017 totalling more than $495,000. BCGGA executive director Linda Delli Santi added to the picture of a strong sector in her report. Steps have been taken to open China to BC greenhouse vegetables, creating a potential export market for growers. This follows on the heels of Japan accepting produce from BC in 2017. The association acclaimed


Ray Van Marrewyk, Eric Schlacht and Reuben Houweling as directors for a two-year term, alongside incumbent directors Ravi Cheema, Jos Moerman and Armind VanderMeulen.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JUNE 2018


Growers on look- out for activists


by PETER MITHAM


KELOWNA – Concern over the potential for activists to disrupt farming operations has prompted the BC Fruit Growers’ Association to warn orchardists to be vigilant. “We anticipate that radical labour activists will trespass


and “sneak” onto your farm to disrupt your business,” the association warned in its regular memo to members on May 11. “These activists wish to identify and even create problems with SAWP [Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program] workers on your farm.” The bulletin linked the activity to federal initiatives


designed to protect workers, with the alleged intent being to create bad press around the use of seasonal farm workers. “The radical activists may impersonate government


officials, so please take your time [to] record and look at the identification,” growers were told. A specific group wasn’t identified in the BCFGA memo but an Okanagan-based group, Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture (RAMA), quickly named itself as a target. “[We] believe this letter sows misinformation about the


groups and individuals that support farmworkers,” RAMA said in a statement posted to its website. “The claim that migrant worker activists wish to “disrupt farm business” is not only false, it also does not make sense: it would be counterproductive to the work of RAMA and other migrant justice organizations,” RAMA said. “For the same reasons that we do not seek to disrupt farm operations needlessly, we do not invent issues for farmworkers.” It added that members had never impersonated


government officials, but rather that RAMA works to build relationships with farmworkers and community members. Its website says it does this by offering practical assistance as well as “breaking bread, sharing meals, going dancing, running errands and generally communing with one another.” BCFGA’s move follows concern in livestock sectors over


a recruitment drive in January by Mercy for Animals. Sting operations by the group have landed dairy producer Chilliwack Cattle Sales Ltd. and chicken catcher Elite Farm Services Ltd. on the national news in recent years, prompting even small producers to increase security.


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