Victory for migrant farmworkers in Canada in the racial profiling case
A human-rights tribunal in Ontario, Canada, has delivered a historic ruling in an almost decade-old legal battle between 54 migrant farm workers and the Ontario Provincial Police.Last month, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) ruled that the farm workers were targeted by police solely on the basis of their skin colour and their status as migrant farmworkers.In November last year, the tribunal heard the lawsuit by the migrant farm workers which included several Trinidad and Jamaican men who alleged racist policing practices.They were represented by the group Justice for Migrant Workers. Their lawsuit stemmed from an October 2013 sexual assault near Bayham, Ontario, when the Ontario Provincial Police did a DNA sweep to collect samples from approximately 95 migrant farmworkers employed in the region.The tribunal found that the police’s conduct during the DNA sweep was contrary to section 1 of Ontario’s Human Rights Code and that it violated the workers’ right to be free from discrimination by improperly targeting them on the basis of race, skin colour, and place of origin.
"If the DNA canvass was discriminatory and in violation of the Code, the success of the DNA canvass does not justify the conduct. In other words, the end cannot justify the means.”"In the context of these migrant workers who visibly stand out, and are a clearly differentiated minority group from this rural white community, one can readily see from this evidence how relying solely or predominantly on their migrant worker status in selecting them for investigation of a crime when additional information was available, subjected them to over-investigation by police.”Attorney Chris Ramsaroop said the tribunal’s ruling was a “significant victory by a group of courageous workers whose strength in numbers and a burning desire for change lead to today’s victory.“These workers fought and will continue to fight to end criminalization, and racist police practices. This isn’t about a few bad apples though; the entire system is rotten to its core.”
Monetary compensation was ordered for Leon Logan, the lead applicant in the complaint, and the parties reached an agreement for the remaining 53 ..
"If the DNA canvass was discriminatory and in violation of the Code, the success of the DNA canvass does not justify the conduct. In other words, the end cannot justify the means.”"In the context of these migrant workers who visibly stand out, and are a clearly differentiated minority group from this rural white community, one can readily see from this evidence how relying solely or predominantly on their migrant worker status in selecting them for investigation of a crime when additional information was available, subjected them to over-investigation by police.”Attorney Chris Ramsaroop said the tribunal’s ruling was a “significant victory by a group of courageous workers whose strength in numbers and a burning desire for change lead to today’s victory.“These workers fought and will continue to fight to end criminalization, and racist police practices. This isn’t about a few bad apples though; the entire system is rotten to its core.”
Monetary compensation was ordered for Leon Logan, the lead applicant in the complaint, and the parties reached an agreement for the remaining 53 ..
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