London, Ont.
General Synod has voted to add additional advocacy, ministry and communications to the support the Anglican Church of Canada offers to migrant farmworkers. The assembly, which is meeting in London June 23-June 29, heard a presentation from the Rev. Enrique Martinez of the parish of Long Point Bay and director of the Huron Migrant Farmworkers Ministry, which provides meals, spiritual care, mental health support and bicycles to migrant workers in the diocese of Huron; and from Chris Sorio, a member of migrant justice advocacy group Migrante Canada and of the Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice Coordinating Committee.
The Bible is full of passages exhorting God’s people to be kind to sojourners from abroad living in their lands, Martinez pointed out, often making reference to the fact that the ancient Israelites were themselves once strangers in Egypt. As a result, he told General Synod, it is the responsibility of Christians everywhere to take up the cause of people from abroad living in their midst. And beyond simply tolerating them, he said, Jesus commands Christians to love everyone they meet as they love themselves.
“The good Samaritan didn’t ask for papers. He didn’t check if each man was one of his people. He didn’t ask if he was from the same faith, the same country or the same language. He just loved,” he said.
Sorio and Martinez told General Synod Canada hosts about 845,000 temporary foreign workers, who often do physically demanding work up to seven days a week for long hours and whose right to stay in Canada can be taken away at the unilateral decision of their employers. Many of these workers are not here in Canada by choice, they said, but are seeking ways to make ends meet as they escape untenable situations in countries they would rather return to.
The resolution passed by General Synod asks the primate and the House of Bishops to liase with all levels of government, promoting permanent residence pathways for temporary workers in essential occupations; regularization for undocumented workers; labour rights ensuring fair pay, safe conditions and protection from exploitation; and access to healthcare and social services.
It also asks the Office of General Synod “to share and promote resources that will support and connect the participation of local Canadian Anglican parishes and groups in ministries of hospitality and advocacy in partnership with migrant workers and migrant serving organizations.” It asks the national office for resources in a wide range of areas, highlighting, for example, migrants’ contributions to food security and the discrimination and exploitation they face and outlining strategies to form relationships between parishes and workers to help them meet their basic and spiritual needs and empower them to stand up for their rights.
The resolution cites another resolution General Synod passed in 2019 promoting similar engagement on issues of human trafficking and modern slavery. The church’s animator of public witness for social and ecological justice, Ryan Weston, told the Journal the new resolution’s connection with human trafficking and modern slavery has partly to do with the fact that migrant workers are often underpaid, limited in their freedom of movement and sometimes exploited by their employers; this, he said, parallels the loss of freedom experienced by those experiencing human trafficking.
Moreover, he said, the conditions of being a migrant worker often leave people alone in Canada without legal status, community connections or the resources to get somewhere safe, especially if they try to leave an exploitative employer. These conditions put them at significantly increased risk of being taken by human traffickers, he said.
