Jamaican farm worker says he's still waiting for proper compensation after 2008 accident in Niagara Region

Jeleel Stewart came to Canada for the first time in 2007 with a desire to support his family in Jamaica and make their lives better. 

His plans did not work out that way.

During Stewart's second year with the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), his left hand was crushed by a forklift at his workplace in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Today, Stewart is back in Jamaica. He spoke to CBC Hamilton by phone, recalling what led up to his injuries and what's happened since.

Stewart worked at Mori Nurseries in Niagara-on-the-Lake. His job included a bit of everything — whatever needed to be done, workers were expected to do it, he said.

Stewart said that on the day of the accident, he and a co-worker were placing plants on a forklift when he saw the machine heading directly toward his head. 

He said he tried to get out of the forklift's way when he slipped and fell, and it came down and "crushed" his left hand. 

Stewart said he was taken to a hospital in St. Catharines and then transferred to Niagara Falls, where he spent hours in surgery. 

After months of recovery and physiotherapy in Canada, he returned to Jamaica, where he continued to receive physiotherapy. Stewart said the accident left him with cuts, broken bones, a severed nerve and more. He said he's been in pain ever since. 

Now, Stewart and advocates have raised questions about the WSIB system when it comes to migrant farm workers.

The farm where Stewart worked closed in 2015 following the retirement of longtime nursery grower Leno Mori, according to Stewart and his friend Jane Andres, a longtime Niagara-on-the-Lake resident and an advocate for migrant workers in the area.

Stewart said even today, he can't hold a cup of tea or do anything with his left — and dominant — hand. 

"I'm just tired of this," he said.

Stewart said he received compensation from the WSIB after his 2008 accident, but the payments stopped in 2010 when they deemed him capable of working to "restore [his] pre-injury wages," according to a letter sent to him by WSIB in 2010.