New Brunswick farmers warn of consequences of ban on foreign workers
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/05/2020 (2034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
FREDERICTON – A coalition of agriculture groups say New Brunswick’s ban on temporary foreign workers is putting an already strained food system on the verge of collapse.
The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick along with the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick and a group called Really Local Harvest say the province already relies heavily on food from outside New Brunswick.
They say the ban on the temporary foreign workers may be the difference between make or break for many farms, which have been forced to reduce planting.
“I will be scaling back production by eliminating low margin and high labour crops,” Ken Coates, owner of Nature’s Route Farm, wrote in a letter to Premier Blaine Higgs.
Higgs imposed the ban on the temporary foreign workers last month as part of border restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The province has had just 120 cases of COVID-19 and all have recovered. The government has begun easing many restrictions and is moving to the next phase of reopening on Friday.
On Wednesday, Higgs said he’ll make a decision within days to ensure farmers and fish processors are able to fill their need for workers.
“I said I wouldn’t let them go without employees and I meant that — I won’t,” Higgs said.
“If we don’t fill the roster in the next few days of what’s needed right now, then there will be decisions made to ensure that we can meet the needs,” he said.
Last week, the spring lobster season opened for much of the Maritimes, but fish processors in New Brunswick said they would have to turn away some of the business because of a shortage of staff caused by the ban on temporary foreign workers.
Higgs has said it was disappointing that 70,000 people are unemployed in the province and yet so few have applied for the posted jobs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2020.