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TINA COMEAU PHOTO IN DEPTH: Covering a contentious lobster fishery What you need to know about COVID-19 today app SWNews_original Have you heard about the SaltWire News app? Susan Harvie of Kentville became the driving force for the Ryan’s Park pocket community development that recently got underway in Kentville during her pursuit to get Ryan, her adult son with autism spectrum disorder, out of an institutional care setting. - Contributed SaltWire Selects: Stories you don't want to miss Salt logo. Check out Halifax’s new(s) urban weekly newsletter Advocates ‘concerned’ about temporary foreign worker program, renew calls for better rights, protections for workers Noushin Ziafati Published: Jul 06, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. Updated: Jul 07, 2020 at 8:29 a.m. Sorry you must be at least 19 years of age to consume this content. Advocacy group No One is Illegal - Halifax/K’jipuktuk recently launched a poster campaign, placing posters around Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market, so that people going to get local fruits and vegetables at the market would think about "the important role that migrant workers play in our food system" and join the group's calls for better rights and protections for migrant workers. Advocacy group No One is Illegal - Halifax/K’jipuktuk recently launched a poster campaign, placing posters around Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market, so that people going to get local fruits and vegetables at the market would think about "the important role that migrant workers play" in the food system and join the group's calls for rights and protections for migrant workers. (BUTTON) A (BUTTON) A After Nova Scotia reported its first case of a temporary foreign worker testing positive for COVID-19 last week, advocates are renewing a call for permanent resident status for all in Canada as the “only and best solution” to prevent further spread of COVID-19 among migrant workers. In a news release, the Nova Scotia Health Department said a temporary foreign worker tested positive for COVID-19 on July 1 and that they “have been self-isolating since arriving in the province, as required.” The release didn’t include the location of the worker or many details, but noted the “likely source of infection for this case” is from travel outside of Canada. Some 60,000 temporary foreign workers came to Canada last year, 1,500 of which came to work in Nova Scotia. Concerns over the health and safety of temporary foreign workers in Canada have been looming amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as three people working at farms in Ontario have died from the coronavirus and hundreds have been infected by it across Canada to date. Stacey Gomez, a member of the advocacy group No One is Illegal - Halifax/K’jipuktuk, said she “wasn’t surprised” to hear a migrant worker tested positive for COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, seeing how workers have been impacted by COVID-19 across Canada, but that she’s “concerned.” “It really points to the fundamental issues with the temporary foreign worker program that urgently need to be addressed,” said Gomez. “The fact there’s a case now here in Nova Scotia and there are cases also in New Brunswick, really highlights that the temporary nature of this program really puts migrants at risk.” No One is Illegal - Halifax/K’jipuktuk is part of the larger national Migrant Rights Network, which is calling on the federal government to give permanent resident status to all migrants in Canada, including undocumented people, migrant workers and “anyone with precarious status in our communities.” Karen Cocq, of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, which recently released a report on the complaints of hundreds of migrants who are working in Canada during the pandemic, said this is the “only and best solution” to prevent further spread of COVID-19 among migrant workers. According to Gomez, permanent immigration status for all will “fundamentally improve things” for migrants, giving them “the same rights and protections as Canadians and permanent residents,” such as access to health care, income support and the ability to assert basic rights. Without these rights and protections, Gomez said migrants are in a “vulnerable” position, especially since they are typically tied to a single employer and are unable to leave their workplace and find work elsewhere in Canada if they face abuse or unsafe conditions. “If a migrant worker is working on a farm, for instance, and they are concerned about the situation at their workplace, like if they’re not receiving protective equipment, if they’re living in decrepit housing, if they speak out about these conditions that are placing them at greater risk during a pandemic, they risk being fired, deported or blacklisted from the program,” she said. “And so it’s very concerning, because that puts them in a life or death position.” In addition to giving permanent resident status to all migrants, Gomez said No One is Illegal - Halifax/K’jipuktuk is calling for other recommendations from the MWAC report to be enacted at the provincial and federal levels, including ensuring social distancing and provision of personal protective equipment for all migrant workers and suspending work at farms where COVID-19 has been detected. The group also has an ongoing campaign calling on the provincial government to enact permanent health care access for all migrants and is “currently looking" at other calls to make to the provincial government. For one, Gomez said they would like to receive further information about the first temporary foreign worker that tested positive for COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, noting the province speculating the worker got the virus from outside of Canada “could inflame xenophobic sentiment.” Gomez said she hopes the first case of a temporary foreign worker testing positive for COVID-19 puts the provincial government “in high gear” to be active in prioritizing the safety of migrant workers. “Migrant workers risk their lives to come work here — putting food on the table of Nova Scotians, contributing to the economy and providing for their families back home. The case that's been reported in Nova Scotia, as well as the deaths we've seen in Ontario farms drive that point home,” said Gomez. “Migrants are essential — essential members of our communities and essential workers. We need to do better by them." The Chronicle Herald reached out to the provincial government for further details about the temporary foreign worker that tested positive for COVID-19 and to see whether they are taking these recommendations into consideration. In an email statement, Minister of Agriculture Keith Colwell said temporary foreign workers “play a key labour role in the planting, harvesting and processing of Nova Scotia’s agriculture and seafood products” and that the program is administered by the federal government, which “sets standards” for working and housing conditions. “The Department of Agriculture has worked with stakeholders to support workplace protocols around COVID-19 both during the isolation period and on farms and in seafood processing plants,” Colwell added. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not respond prior to publication. 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Cape Breton court report for Jan. 15, 2021 * Published a day ago The Cape Breton Regional Hospital is one of the hospitals within the Cape Breton Healthcare Complex. Other hospitals include Glace Bay, New Waterford Consolidated and Northside General. CAPE BRETON POST Death rates at Cape Breton hospitals under scrutiny * Updated a day ago P.E.I. Snowmobile Association president Dale Hickox, left, and vice-president Grant Peters pose for a photo near the Confederation Trail in Winsloe. The group is concerned at the number of near-misses involving walkers and dogs on the Confederation Trail and reminds Islanders that while there is snow on the trails a lease agreement with the province says snowmobiles have the right of way. P.E.I.'s Confederation Trail reserved for snowmobilers when the snow is here * Updated 3 hours ago Firefighters deemed the cause of this house fire on Windsor Back Road to be accidental. Martock family displaced by destructive bungalow fire * Updated a day ago Transit Cape Breton buses are fuelled by diesel, but it’s expected that will change in the future as the demand increases and the cost decreases for the electrification of public transportation fleets. DAVID JALA • CAPE BRETON POST CBRM still eyeing electric buses * Updated a day ago Get Your Weather By Day Recent Stories Packers carve up Rams to reach NFC title game DeMar DeRozan leads Spurs past short-handed Rockets New Pacers G Caris LeVert sidelined due to mass on kidney Lebanon inks final deal for 2.1 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine The fight to avert one last execution on Trump's watch UK's Deliveroo raises $180 million from investors, valued at $7 billion Phil Kessel powers Coyotes past Sharks Samsung's Jay Y. 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