Migrant worker's hit-and-run death in Niagara-on-the-Lake sparks call for government action

The death of a migrant agricultural worker from Mexico, killed in a hit-and-run on a dark, rural road in Niagara-on-the-Lake has sparked a call from a migrant workers advocacy group for local, provincial and federal governments to take action to protect the lives and the rights of seasonal agricultural workers.

Migrant worker's hit-and-run death in Niagara-on-the-Lake sparks call for government action Sinhue Garcia, struck while riding his bike late at night, leaves wife and daughters behind in Mexico The death of a migrant agricultural worker, killed in a hit-and-run on a dark, rural road in Niagara-on-the-Lake, has sparked a call from a migrant workers advocacy group for local, provincial and federal governments to take action to protect the lives and the rights of seasonal agricultural workers. The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change identified the man killed on June 26 as Sinhue Garcia, a 39-year-old man with a wife and two daughters at home in Mexico.

The alliance said he worked at a major greenhouse operation in the town. Niagara Regional Police said it happened after 11:30 p.m. on that Friday night on Concession Road 6 near Line 4 Road when a driver struck Garcia and fled without reporting the collision. Police arrested a 22-year-old man from the town and charged him with impaired driving causing death, and failing to stop after an accident, resulting in death.

The Migrant Farmworkers Project, a mission of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, helps migrant workers in Niagara, providing services such as hot meals in a church, bicycles for a nominal fee so they can get around, medical services and clothing. Rev. Peter Ciallella, head of that mission, said about 4,000 migrant farmworkers travel to Niagara for up to eight months a year working to harvest tender fruit and grapes and working in greenhouses. They have become a critically important part of the region's agricultural sector because they fill jobs that otherwise would often be left vacant, said Ciallella.

"Without them farming would not exist the way we have it today, no way, because Canadians won't do that kind of work," he told CBC News. Growing list of dead and injured cyclists Garcia's death is the latest in a growing list of serious injuries and tragedies involving workers who are critical to Niagara's tender fruit and grape industries, the migrant workers alliance said. "He came to Niagara every season to grow the food on Ontario's tables," the alliance said in a news release.

"He died on a rural road with no street lights, no shoulder and no bike lane. "His death is not the first. It is part of a pattern that has been building for years."

In a new petition, launched by the alliance to push governments into action, the alliance says: - In 2019 a Mexican farmworker and mother known as Zenaida was killed in a hit-and-run in Niagara-on-the-Lake. - In 2022, Fermin Soto Sanchez was struck by a car and killed while returning home from Port Dalhousie with friends, while two other farmworkers were seriously injured. - That same year, Ceto Reid, a Jamaican farmworker, was badly injured after being hit while riding his bike back to the farm from a laundromat in St. Catharines.

- In 2023, a farmworker named Omar was injured in a hit-and-run on Lakeshore Road. A memorial board set up by other migrant workers in his honour, in the Virgil Book Nook store in Niagara-on-the-Lake, showed Garcia in photos, smiling. The alliance said the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program has been bringing migrant workers to Niagara for 60 years where they helped farms grow and farmers profit, but in all that time Niagara has not built the road infrastructure, transit or protections that would keep workers safe.

"The reason people keep dying is that governments have never treated migrant workers as full human beings," said Kit Andres, an organizer with the alliance. "A neighbour's life has been lost. His children have lost their father.

And every politician who is supposed to represent this community has said nothing. Their silence tells migrant workers they are disposable." Petition calls for permanent resident status The new petition is calling for a funded migrant worker safety and support plan, including safe and free transportation, urgent road safety improvements, emergency support for families after injuries and deaths, and permanent funding for legal support, health services, and community spaces for migrant workers.

The petition also calls for permanent resident status, so that workers can report and refuse dangerous conditions without fear of losing their jobs, their housing, or their place in Canada. "Everyone in this country should have the same permanent resident status," alliance executive director Syed Hussan told CBC News. "It's essential for people to be able to self-advocate for themselves, to protect themselves, to have rights."

"Otherwise, we're going to see this constant loss of life." CBC News reached out late Tuesday to Employment and Social Development Canada, for comment on the idea of permanent resident status for migrant workers. Richard Lee, executive director of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, said Garcia contributed greatly to the success of Niagara's greenhouse sector.

"Migrant workers are an essential part of Ontario agriculture," he said in a news release. Niagara police said the hit-and-run crash investigation is ongoing. They're asking anyone who may have witnessed the collision or with dash camera or surveillance video footage around the time of the accident to call them at 905-688-4111, option 3, ext. 1009367.