Harvesting Freedom Caravan stops in Toronto to join rally at the Ontario Food Terminal
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - Migrant rights activists and community members will be converging this morning at the Ontario Food Terminal to welcome the Harvesting Freedom caravan in support of migrant workers and their calls for permanent immigration status.
The caravan of migrant farm workers begun their month-long 1,500km journey in Leamington, Ontario, and are travelling to Ottawa to demand the Federal government do more to protect migrant workers and ensure better protection of their rights.
The rally at the Ontario Food Terminal will greet the caravan as they make their first Toronto stop and will aim to raise public and consumer awareness about the many injustices migrant farm workers face in Canada.
"The Terminal is the largest food distribution center in Canada and is the place where migrant worker labour is being profited from," said Gabriel Allahdua, farmworker organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers and the Harvesting Freedom Campaign. "We want to send a message that the exploitation of migrant farm workers will no longer be tolerated. It is only by receiving permanent immigration status that workers can get the fair treatment and dignity they deserve".
Over 30,000 workers come to Canada under the 50-year old Federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. However, they are often exempt from or denied basic labour and human rights due to their lack of permanent immigration status.
SOURCE Harvesting Freedom Campaign
Tzazná Miranda Leal, T: 647 618 5325, E: [email protected], W: www.harvestingfreedom.org
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