Agency calls for more support for migrant workers after probe at Cape Breton resort
CBC
A Halifax agency that supports migrant workers says more needs to be done after Nova Scotia's Labour Department issued an order and a warning to the Keltic Lodge in Ingonish, N.S., in response to a temporary foreign worker's complaint about mould in the staff residence and bugs in the food.
The department ordered the resort to create an occupational health and safety plan. It also issued a warning to have a joint occupational health and safety committee of management and staff in place by Oct. 20.
Stacey Gomez, manager of the migrant worker program with No One Is Illegal, said that's not enough.
"I do believe that it's the minimum and that there does need to be more done," she said. "This doesn't send a good message to other migrant workers who may be in unsafe living and working conditions."
Jeff Dolan, Nova Scotia Labour's acting senior executive director of safety, said the department sent investigators to the Cape Breton resort two weeks after receiving a complaint from Orlando Rosas, a worker from Mexico. But he did not say whether the lack of any evidence of mould or odour was a result of the delay.
"The concern that was communicated by the worker was taken very seriously," he said. "When [inspectors] responded, they made sure they responded with the right people."
The department also recommended the employer assess areas known to be impacted by water and fix them, if necessary.
Dolan said because of the suggestion of mould, a safety officer in Cape Breton had to wait to co-ordinate a visit with an occupational hygienist, who was in Halifax. He said that's why they arrived at the resort two weeks after the complaint.
At the time, Rosas said the staff residence was often damp. He took pictures of mould growing on his clothes and on residence walls, and items in the laundry room.
He also said his cousin got so sick with pneumonia he had to go home to Mexico.
Dolan said the department did not inspect the residence as a whole, but did look at the laundry room and a staff bedroom that shared a wall with the laundry room.
Investigators also inspected the basement of the main lodge and a kitchen and restaurant nearby.
The resort and attached Highlands Links Golf Course are owned by Parks Canada, but Ontario-based GolfNorth Properties employs the staff and manages the sites.
Dolan said Nova Scotia Labour did not investigate Rosas's complaints about mould in the living quarters because the department's jurisdiction only covers workplaces.
