The Dalton McGuinty government announced, during a press conference at Queen’s Park on Dec. 9, that it will be changing Ontario’s Employment Standards Act to include better provisions for the province’s rapidly growing temporary labour force, but agriculture workers are conspicuously missing from the proposed legislation.

“This is a small step forward for temporary workers, but the government’s proposed legislation fails to address any of the issues facing temporary agriculture workers,” said UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley, who attended the press conference and scrummed with media after the announcement. “Under these proposed changes, agriculture workers are still excluded from the province’s employment standards, and they still don’t have the same protections as other workers in the province.”

The government’s newly minted Labour Minister, Peter Fonseca, described the proposed legislation as a measure that will “remove barriers”, provide “enhanced protections”, and put an end to “unscrupulous employers who take advantage of or exploit vulnerable workers.” 
When asked why the legislation did not apply to farm workers, Fonseca introduced the term “temporary agency workers”, suggesting there are different types of temporary workers and that the proposed legislation is only concerned with protecting a certain portion of the province’s non-standard workforce.

In Novemeber, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that agriculture workers have the right to bargain collectively and advised the government to modify provincial law to conform to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The McGuinty Government has 12 months to bring agriculture workers into the province’s legislative framework, but has yet to demonstrate a desire to abide by the high court’s instructions.