Farm Workers in Western Canada

In-depth look at social, political, and economic conditions affecting farm workers’ struggles for their rights.

Bill 6, the government of Alberta’s contentious farm workers’ safety legislation, sparked public debate as no other legislation has done in recent years. The Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act provides a right to work safely and a compensation system for those killed or injured at work, similar to other provinces.
In nine essays, contributors to Farm Workers in Western Canada place this legislation in context. They look at the origins, work conditions, and precarious lives of farm workers in terms of larger historical forces such as colonialism, land rights, and racism. They also examine how the rights and privileges of farm workers, including seasonal and temporary foreign workers, conflict with those of their employers, and reveal the barriers many face by being excluded from most statutory employment laws, sometimes in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Contributors: Gianna Argento, Bob Barnetson, Michael J. Broadway, Jill Bucklaschuk, Delna Contractor, Darlene A. Dunlop, Brynna Hambly (Takasugi), Zane Hamm, Paul Kennett, Jennifer Koshan, C.F. Andrew Lau, J. Graham Martinelli, Shirley A. McDonald, Robin C. McIntyre, Nelson Medeiros, Kerry Preibisch, Heidi Rolfe, Patricia Tomic, Ricardo Trumper, and Kay Elizabeth Turner.

Acknowledgements | xi
Introduction | xiii
Bob Barnetson and Shirley A. McDonald
ONE
CAPITALIST FARMS, VULNERABLE WORKERS
The Political Economy of Farm Work in Alberta | 1
Bob Barnetson
TWO
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF AN ALBERTA FARM WORKER
AND ACTIVIST | 31
Darlene A. Dunlop with Shirley A. McDonald
THREE
GEORGIC THEMES AND MYTHS OF ENTITLEMENT IN
THE LIFE WRITING OF PRAIRIE SETTLERS | 53
Shirley A. McDonald
FOUR
COWS, MEAT, PEOPLE
The Social Effects of Migrant Meat Processors in Brooks, Alberta | 81
Michael J. Broadway
FIVE
A TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR PERMANENT GAINS?
Considering the Workplace Experiences of Temporary Foreign Workers
in Manitoba’s Hog-Processing Industry | 101
Jill Bucklaschuk
SIX
WORKING AWAY
Exploring the Lived Experiences of Farm Owner-Operators with
Off-Farm Employment in Alberta | 121
Zane Hamm
SEVEN
FARMING THE CONSTITUTION
The Illegality of Excluding Alberta Farm Workers from Labour
and Employment Legislation | 139
Jennifer Koshan, Gianna Argento, Delna Contractor, Brynna Hambly
(Takasugi), Paul Kennett, C.F. Andrew Lau, J. Graham Martinelli, Robin
C. McIntyre, Nelson Medeiros, Heidi Rolfe, and Kay Elizabeth Turner
EIGHT
BC-GROWN
Examining the Place-Embeddedness of Managed Migration
and Farm Labour Markets in British Columbia | 167
Kerry Preibisch
NINE
LABOURING IN THE "FOUR-SEASON PARADISE”
Workers and Agriculture in the Okanagan Valley | 187
Patricia Tomic and Ricardo Trumper
Contributors | 207
Index | 213