Support organizations are calling on the government to provide emergency support to migrant workers displaced by the wildfires, including expedited access to Employment Insurance
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Smoke has been an increasingly familiar backdrop during Julio’s summers in the Okanagan, hanging over the rows of cherry trees as he and other temporary foreign workers race against the clock to bring in B.C.’s fruit harvest.
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Some days, it’s only a light haze. On others, the smoke is so thick it has brought work to a choking halt.
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“Usually, we just use an N95 mask and carry on because we want to make the most of our time,” he said.
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But this week, the apartment Julio shared with his wife was among several homes for migrant workers destroyed by the Bald Range wildfire, which forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate Summerland, Peachland and surrounding communities.
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“There was no frame left over from our house, nothing,” Julio said, describing a video he was shown of the wildfire’s aftermath.
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He is one of nearly 100 temporary foreign agricultural workers from Mexico displaced by the wildfire, with some losing their jobs as crops burned and farms and worker housing were damaged. Now scattered across the Okanagan, many are facing lost income and an uncertain return home — a crisis advocates say is exposing gaps in emergency support for workers whose B.C. wages support families thousands of kilometres away.
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Postmedia agreed not to publish the full identities of the workers who fear speaking publicly could affect their employment or status in Canada.
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Julio is among 47 seasonal workers from a Summerland cherry farm who were forced to flee, with about 30 flown out by helicopter.
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“It was super scary,” said Julio, who left the fire zone in a work van with few belongings, driving through the night as an orange glow from the flames lit the road ahead.
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After sleeping on cots at an ice rink turned into an emergency shelter in West Kelowna, they were told the support was temporary and they could no longer stay.
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Some are now at another emergency centre, while others are on farms or in hotels and private homes in Penticton, Keremeos and Oliver.
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Some scramble to find meals, as others deal with lost passports, or are holding onto gas vouchers provided by charities in case another emergency strikes rather than spend their limited resources getting food.
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On Thursday, two vans pulled into the Willow Park Church parking lot in Kelowna around noon. A group of Spanish-speaking men filed inside. Around four dozen people — most of them men from Mexico — settled at two long tables. They were provided trays of lasagna, a big bowl of salad and garlic bread, and various snacks.
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By early afternoon the mood had loosened. They broke into small groups — some laughing, some arm-wrestling across the tables, others just talking.
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Lorena Ordonez of the Migrant Workers Centre said a public GoFundMe campaign raised enough to give each worker $150. After the cash was handed to each displaced worker, she and an ESS worker helped those with a B.C. Services Card or work permit apply for $250 in additional provincial support.
