It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Report finds Alberta’s ‘fly-in, fly-out’ oilsands workers face significant stress, reluctant to seek help
By Phil Heidenreich Global News Posted October 26, 2021 Oilfield workers who fly in and out of work camps can face immense pressures. A recent University of Alberta study is shedding light on the toll the stressful conditions can take on their mental health.
“The report I think in many ways solidifies things that people anecdotally know already about the impacts of fly-in, fly-out work on workers’ mental health and well-being,” said Sara Dorow, a sociologist at the University of Alberta who co-authored the report. “I would say that if anything surprised us it was some of the degree to which some of these issues were affecting workers.
“We know already that being away from home and family is difficult… What we didn’t anticipate perhaps is the degree to which people report that being a problem.”
The report saw 72 oilsands workers be interviewed in late 2019 and early 2020 before follow-up interviews were conducted a few months later. Most of those interviewed were workers who arrive from other places in Alberta and across Canada “for rotations of six to 21 days, living in work camps while working 10- or 12-hour shifts at nearby worksites,” according to the report.
The study found 87 per of participants reported either some or a lot of stress from being far away from loved ones.
“The difficulty of establishing and maintaining relationships with family, feelings of loneliness and the inability to be at home for family events or emergencies are significant stressors among FIFO workers,” the report reads.
Seventy-seven per cent of the study’s participants reported either some or a lot of stress from living in work camps, either because they felt trapped, had limited or unhealthy food options, poor sleep or other reasons.
Over two-thirds of participants reported stress from their commute to work.
“Participants’ ratings of general mental health and daily stress are worse than is found in the population,” the report reads. “About half rated their mental health as very good or excellent (46%) or rated most days as somewhat or very stressful (51%).
“Nearly half (46%) of survey participants had diagnosed long-term health conditions, with half of these (51%) describing their conditions as mental or both mental and physical. These proportions are higher than is reported in the general population.
“More than one-third of participants (35%) had sought help for their mental health (counselling, medication, and/or information) in the past year — twice as high as reported in the general population. The most frequent reasons cited for seeking help were family and relationship issues, anxiety, depression, trauma, and general mental health.”
While over three-quarters of the study’s participants said they had access to health-care services while at work or in camp, over half of those people “indicated they would not use these services; this was especially true for health care offered on site, where 57 per cent of participants with access to these services indicated they were ‘not likely’ to use them.”
“People were really concerned about losing a job or keeping a job if they were to report a serious health issue,” Dorow said. “This is exacerbated by the fact we had a lot of contract workers in the study.
“This is of grave concern… We do know that in the construction trades for example, there is a higher rate of suicide. And so actually making sure that there is a space for people to… report mental health issues is really crucial.”
Dorow said some participants feared there would be repercussions for seeking mental support like damage to their reputation or being more likely to be laid off or not rehired.
“There can be kind of a tough guy thing: ‘You just have to tough it out,'” she said. “This is deepened by fly-in, fly-out.”
Dorow said the work is simply a way to make money for many employees and that there is a culture that pushes workers to accept the stress as simply part of the job.
“To say that this is not for the weak-minded is clearly a problem in the sense that there may be conditions that are being ignored,” she said.
Sexual harassment and discrimination
The report says over two-thirds of female participants reported experiencing discrimination at work.
“Some of the gendered findings are really important,” Dorow said. “I was surprised by how many women reported discrimination and harassment… But also the impacts of fly-in, fly-out on women… There was a much higher proportion of women who reported difficulty sleeping in camp.”
Dorow, who said she has been conducting research in the oilsands on and off for about 15 years, said she believes some of the issues highlighted in the report could be addressed relatively simply, like ensuring walls are thick enough that someone at a work camp can’t hear snoring in the room next to them, or ensuring healthy food choices are made available.
“We also found in our report some evidence of cumulative effects of the longer you do this, the more there might be cumulative effects of work/life imbalance and stress and strain,” she said. “It really needs to be looked at systematically.”
Dorow said ensuring workers feel comfortable accessing mental health supports is a key issue.
“How do we create a supportive environment…where psychosocial safety is front and centre… So people feel like they can come forward if they have issues and can get safe third-party help when they need it.”
Dorow said the study was “not as systematic as we would have hoped,” and she hopes more research is done on the subject to spur governments, companies and workers to work together to address the issues at hand.
Groups across Alberta are cautioning the province against ditching the RCMP and creating its own police force.
Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said Friday that an Alberta police force would give the province more flexibility to respond to rural crime, as he released a third-party report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
That report outlined it would cost Alberta about $735 million each year to operate its police force, in addition to a projected $366 million in startup costs.
According to the review, it costs Alberta about $500 million annually to pay for the RCMP. The federal government provides $170 million through a cost-sharing agreement to offload some costs.
Currently, the province has 1,480 Mounties that police rural areas, First Nations, and communities that do not have municipal forces.
“I’m still uncertain as to what is the problem the province is trying to solve by proposing a provincial police force,” said Tanya Thorn, Okotoks mayor and Alberta Urban Municipalities Association board member.
“I don’t understand why we need to create a whole new structure to solve a problem we’re already working on, and we’ve seen improvements on.”
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, head of the Mounties in Alberta, said they look forward to hearing and acting on what Albertans have to say.
“We know that Albertans want an active role in community safety and in deciding how their policing services are provided,” Zablocki said.
In Thorn’s view, a provincial police force is a cost municipalities cannot afford to bear.
“If it’s not giving us better value, if it’s not allowing us to increase service levels to our residents, why would we take on more costs?”
Irfan Sabir, justice critic for the Opposition NDP, said Madu is misleading Albertans by suggesting a new police service would be cost-neutral. Sabir warned there would be a tax increase to pay for it.
“The report clearly states it will cost more,” Sabir said.
Madu said he believes the government could fund the police force and would not seek additional money from municipalities.
“We do have a responsibility beyond the monetary implications to defend and pursue our province’s best interests,” he added.
“Ontario has done this. Quebec has done this. Newfoundland and Labrador has done this. And I think the time has come for our province to do the same.”
For Marlene Poitras, Assembly of First Nations Alberta regional chief, a provincial police force would not solve issues facing Indigenous Albertans.
Three First Nations have their own police forces in Alberta, something Poitras believes is a better approach.
“First Nations know what the issues are, they're the experts in their communities as to what will work and what won’t work,” Poitras added. “It’s critical that First Nations are involved in these discussions at the outset.
“A lot of the First Nations are working on developing their own nationhood and asserting their jurisdiction and authority,” she said. “The federal government will be moving toward consulting with First Nations on developing legislation developing First Nations policing as an essential service.”
Alberta’s contract with the RCMP ends in 2032. The province says it wants to survey the public next year about what they think about a provincial police force.
“They’re not listening to what they’re being told already,” Thorn said. “From our members with AUMA, there’s a 90 per cent response that we do not want to shift.”
Kevin Zahara, Edson’s mayor, sent a letter to Madu stating the town’s opposition to an Alberta police force.
“We have worked hard as a municipality to build a strong working relationship with our local RCMP Detachment,” Zahara wrote. “They are our partners and an integral part of our community. We are happy with the level of service our RCMP provide.”
The mayor added that Edson would prefer to see the funds the province is currently using to research creating a police force to augment the partnership with the RCMP.
“The Province repeatedly encourages municipalities to work with each other and come up with new and collaborative ways to provide programs and services to our residents in a cost-effective manner,” Zahara said.
“We implore your Government (Madu) to do the same and work with your Federal counterparts to achieve the Province’s goals related to the RCMP and Policing and to emulate the principles in which they ask of municipal governments within the Province.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson and The Canadian Press’ Dean Bennett
02:09 Does Alberta need a provincial police force?
Alberta mayors raise concerns about provincial police force report Author of the article:Dylan Short Publishing date:Oct 30, 2021 •
Stock photo of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) logo at K-Division headquarters in Edmonton. PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia
Mayors of Alberta municipalities are raising concerns over future costs and are urging the province to hold better consultations after the justice ministry released a report on transitioning away from using RCMP to a provincial police department. The Government of Alberta released the report conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLC on Friday showing a provincial police force could cost Albertans more but provide more services and front-line officers. The report found if the change is made, Alberta would pay between $734 million and $759 million annually and the transition itself would cost $366 million over a six-year term. Currently, RCMP policing Alberta costs $672 million annually. Alberta pays $318 million towards that sum, while municipalities contribute $176 million and the federal government provides $170 million. Alberta Sheriffs currently cost an additional $41 million.
If Alberta were to move to a provincial police department, the province would no longer receive federal funding. Under the current model, RCMP provides policing services to 47 municipalities and 22 First Nation communities. There are several municipalities, including Calgary, with their own standalone police service.
Tanya Thorn, mayor of Okotoks, said Saturday she had looked over the report at a high level and was continuing to work through the rest of its100 pages. She said the potential loss of federal dollars is a concern for her.
Thorn also said she is concerned about what would happen to infrastructure in Alberta currently owned by RCMP.
“I think my initial reaction to (the report), which has been probably my reaction to the discussion through this all the way along is, what is the problem we are trying to solve?” said Thorn. “I don’t understand at the high level why we feel we need to reinvent a wheel from what we’ve currently got operating.” The province commissioned the report — which does not make a recommendation on whether the province should change its policing model — in response to the Fair Deal Panel report that examined Alberta’s place within the Canadian federation. That report recommended Alberta should explore creating its own police service.
THIS CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF UCP PAYS PROVINCIAL COPS LESS THAN RCMP
Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said on Friday no decision has been made on whether the province will create its own police force. He said such a service would be more responsive than the RCMP, would better integrate operations and would train officers locally. The report found a provincial police department would increase the number of front-line officers to 4,189 from 4,030.
“At the end of the day, I am confident that it would be at the same amount or lower than what we currently spend on RCMP, but as a province, we do have a responsibility beyond the monetary implications to defend and pursue our province’s best interests,” said Madu during a news conference Friday.
He did not explicitly say how the province would make up for lost federal funds but said the cost to Alberta’s municipalities would not increase and there would not be a tax increase.
Thorn said Saturday those reassurance did little to comfort her concerns.
“There’s been lots of statements made around how there will be no changes to x, and you can substitute a lot of examples in this province where they’ve turned around and changed x,” said Thorn. “There was going to be no changes to the big cities charters while they abolish them. We weren’t going to download any cost to municipalities but we’ve seen a significant downloading of costs in the last few years.”
Thorn said the report is also vague on how municipalities would be charged for their costs. She said Okotoks currently pays for 90 per cent of their police costs while the federal government pays the remaining 10 per cent, however other municipalities pay varying amounts. She said she was unsure how that would be affected moving forward without the RCMP. ONLY KENNEY SPEAKS FOR UCP GOVT. Requests for comment sent to the Madu’s office were not returned Saturday afternoon
MINISTERS MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS ONLY
Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara went online Friday to reiterate his opposition to the provincial police report. He reposted a letter he penned to Madu as well as Premier Jason Kenney in May saying he supported the RCMP. He said he does not believe it is realistic that a switch to a provincial police would not cost municipalities more money.
“Just refer to our letter in your upcoming smoke and mirrors road show. This idea is driven by ideology and nothing else,” Zahara wrote on Twitter Friday. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) released a statement Friday saying it welcomed the report but that it believes some “important questions” were not asked by the authors and that the review may be missing key information. They called for a referendum to be put to Albertans before any decision is made on removing the RCMP.
“The AUMA maintains that a fair and democratic referendum on the establishment of a provincial police service should occur if the Government of Alberta decides it wants to go this route. Premier Jason Kenney said as much in November 2019, and we expect him to honour his commitment,” read the statement. “If all Albertans must pay for something, then all Albertans must have a say in the decision.”
A timeline provided by the report shows consultations with communities could begin as early as November.
Treaty 8 is not in favour of a provincial police force in Alberta, a sentiment Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam says was shared with Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu in July.
“We mentioned that to Minister Madu at a meeting in High Level. It was addressed to him there with all the chiefs at the table and I brought it to Minister Madu's attention. I told him we weren't interested,” said Adam, who also serves as grand chief of Justice for Treaty 8.
“Ever since then, Minister Madu hasn't answered my phone call or text messages at all.” Today Madu announced the province's interest in following up on a report that it commissioned from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to examine the transition of policing services from the RCMP to an Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS). He committed to consulting with Indigenous communities.
“I have been clear from day one that it was important for me for all of our Indigenous communities and leaders to be fully consulted on what this would mean to their communities. Ultimately we want to partner with them, we want to collaborate with them to ensure their communities are safe. And I have directed my department to begin that particular effort,” said Madu in a news conference.
PwC undertook the transition study from October 2020 to April 2021.
In its 100-page final report, PwC reiterated the call by the Indigenous participants in the transition study for “fulsome engagement” by the province.
“This project had limited discussion with First Nations and Metis groups in Alberta in the development of this report (and) that is not considered sufficient engagement with those communities,” reads the report.
PwC has put forward a proposed model for APPS which it says focuses on “innovation, community engagement and collaboration, problem solving and proactive community policing.”
Presently police services for First Nations communities are provided by RCMP members in detachments off-reserve or through community tripartite agreements, which enhance police services (in place in 22 First Nations). As well, there are three standalone First Nations police services in Alberta-the Blood Tribe, Tsuut'ina First Nations and the Lakeshore Regional Police Service-that serve seven First Nations.
Policing for Metis Settlements is provided through Provincial Policing Service Agreements.
The new model proposed by PwC sets out concepts for policing in Indigenous communities to include increased autonomy of the communities to “lead and define” how policing is delivered; specialized police training; an Indigenous advisory panel that would report to the chief of police; and exploring ways that APPS could support the creation and viability of self-administered First Nations Police Services.
This is not what Treaty 8 is after, says Adam.
The support they want from the province would be for a tripartite agreement that sees help in funding a Treaty 8 police force.
“We've been treated wrong for a long time and it's time to fix the problem. And the only way we can do it is to have our own police force,” Adam said.
He sees no advantage in a provincial police force.
“I view the city police in Edmonton or in Calgary as far more dangerous than the RCMP are when it comes to handling reports to First Nations people just based on evidence that I see when it's being broadcast on the news or footage on postings on Facebook on behaviours,” he said.
Adam points to the recent dismantling of a protest tipi camp on the Alberta legislature grounds. Edmonton Police Service moved in and arrested the “elderly women” there.
“That's a provincial police. They have no respect,” he said.
Madu continually drew on the strength of the Ontario Provincial Police and Surete du Quebec for reason's why Alberta could have its own successful police force.
However, Windspeaker.com brought to the minister's attention strained relationships Indigenous peoples have with the provincial police forces in both Ontario and Quebec.
Madu said the same relationship would not happen in Alberta because “we are going to sit down with them to figure out with them the policing priorities of their communities that is culturally sensitive and in line with their expectations of safety and overall wellbeing of their people and their nations.”
Adam is concerned that a provincial police force would not know how to handle rural situations.
“The fact remains, the RCMP have a good understanding of what's going on. They know the areas outside of the cities. We rely on them still รข€¦ They still answer to the calls. We have to continue to work with them,” he said.
However, he says Treaty 8's priority still is creating its own police force.
“(Alberta) would finally realize how easy it is to work with First Nations instead of going against them. We will work with the Alberta judicial system,” said Adam.
Madu was repeatedly pressed during the news conference to explain how a loss of $200 million from the federal government in RCMP funding to Alberta, would be made up. He insisted taxes would not rise.
“It will be more cost effective for this province to establish their own provincial police. But more than anything else it is important that I make this particular point: As Justice minister I took an oath to defend our province's best interest. And, ultimately this is part of that calculation,” said Madu.
Consultation, both virtual and in-person (depending on coronavirus pandemic measures), will take place from November to early spring 2022. A public survey will also be undertaken.
Madu insisted the government had not made a decision on transitioning from the RCMP to a provincial police services and more “analysis and consultation” was required.
If the nod is given, the transition will be a phased in over five to six years.
“The provincial government... and municipalities through the Police Funding Model... have made significant investments in the Alberta RCMP as their provincial police service, and we have been using those investments to respond to the needs of citizens and communities-moving forward many operational goals and innovative policing initiatives,” said Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki, commanding officer of the Alberta RCMP.
Braid: UCP would kick out the Mounties, but maybe they want to go
What if the RCMP really wants to get out of all deals with provinces, cities and small municipalities?
Author of the article: Don Braid • Calgary Herald Publishing date: Oct 29, 2021 •
Members of the Canmore RCMP dressed in their ceremonial red serge march down Main Street in Canmore during a Canada Day parade. The provincial government is discussing creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP.
SunMedia
The little city of Dieppe, New Brunswick, population 25,000, may hold the key to Alberta’s gung-ho drive to create a provincial police force.
Mayor Yvon LaPierre said this week: “As we know now, in six years from now, they are going to withdraw — the RCMP is going to withdraw from municipal and provincial policing.
“The RCMP’s not going to be here doing municipal policing. We got that memo, as the old saying goes.” Six years is exactly the time cited Friday by Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu for creating a provincial force to replace the RCMP in rural and small communities all over Alberta. UCP LIES It’s a massive undertaking. No matter what Madu says (and he hotly denies it), a new provincial force could cost Albertans far more than the current system, in which the federal government contributes part of the funding.
Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu speaks to media in Calgary and online on Friday, October 29, 2021. Alberta is exploring the benefits of a provincial police service. Jim Wells/Postmedia But the UCP is hell-bent to do this. To make sure it happens, whatever we think, they will not hold one of their beloved referendums.
It would all make sense, though, if the Mounties really are planning to pull out of community and provincial agreements in eight provinces and three territories — everywhere but Ontario and Quebec, which have their own provincial forces.
(Newfoundland and Labrador has its storied Constabulary, but the RCMP does a portion of the policing.)
If such a transition were thrust on the country, there would have to be massive federal assistance to provinces forced to convert. Maybe that’s why Madu sounds so confident about the cost. The talk of a Mountie pullout plan is widely but quietly cited within the Alberta government as one rationale for a provincial force.
Some think it’s just talk, rather cynically used to propel the plan for an Alberta force.
In beautiful New Brunswick, other politicians said they’d heard about the Mountie pullout only as a rumour. The RCMP itself refused to comment.
But to several police sources, it’s a given — and certainly no secret in Ottawa.
In June, a Commons committee led by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals recommended that “the government of Canada explore the possibility of ending contract policing within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that the government work with the provinces, territories and municipalities to help those interested establish their own provincial and territorial police services.”
In Alberta, it’s widely assumed that the province would eject the Mounties by withdrawing from federal contracts that don’t officially expire until the 2030s.
But what if the RCMP really wants to get out of all deals with provinces, cities and small municipalities?
The Alberta government is exploring the benefits of a provincial police service that would replace the RCMP as the main law enforcement agency in the province.
PHOTO BY MARK TAYLOR/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Police sources say community work has pulled the force away from its mandate to fight crime of national importance, including terrorism, anti-terrorism, organized crime, border security, major commercial crime, cybercrime and much else.
These areas are understaffed and underfunded, this argument goes, because so many recruits end up on contract work. At a time when recruitment is more difficult than ever, national problems need to take priority.
There’s also the problem of “getting stuck in the goo,” as one source said.
Mounties feel their reputation as upstanding defenders in red serge is being undercut by a stream of stories about local officers in trouble.
In Alberta, for instance, two officers are charged with manslaughter in the death of Clayton Crawford, who was shot multiple times inside his car on July 3, 2018.
While they don’t deny that RCMP officers make mistakes, Mountie traditionalists say the force should no longer be involved in local policing at all. The UCP, meanwhile, believe they’ll look like geniuses when the RCMP pullout is announced. Alberta would be far ahead of everybody else and eligible for transition money.
If it doesn’t happen? Well, they’d still have the provincial force as a symbol of Alberta’s “autonomy.”
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.
CBC found several products sold in Canadian grocery stores with links to forced labour in Xinjiang, China. (Caitlin Taylor/CBC)
Canadian consumers who purchase popular tomato pastes, sauces and ketchups may actually be buying products harvested and manufactured by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities under oppressive working conditions in China, according to a CBC Marketplace investigation.
Marketplace, in collaboration with theInvestigative Reporting Project Italy — a non-profit media association — and The Guardian, found some of the world's biggest grocers, including ones here in Canada, are stocked with tomato products that could be tied to forced labour in Xinjiang, a remote area of western China where Uyghurs are subjected to mass detention, surveillance and torture by the Chinese government, in what many countries have labelled a genocide.
"This is such a moral failure on the side of these companies," said Adrian Zenz, senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Zenz said the "risk of forced labour is endemic and systemic" in China's tomato industry and that "it's high time [these companies] increased their awareness."
Marketplace identified several major brands — Nestle, Del Monte and Unilever — that purchased tomatoes from Chinese companies in Xinjiang, processed them in intermediary countries like Pakistan, the Philippines and India, and shipped them internationally to be eventually sold at Canadian grocery stores like Walmart and T&T.
But a Canadian consumer may never know the true origins of that tomato product by looking at the label because regulations don't require a company to disclose the entire geographical makeup of the raw material — only which country it was last processed in.
"So shocking," said Glenford Jameson, a Toronto lawyer specializing in food regulation, after he was shown CBC's findings.
Jameson said noting on the label where all the tomatoes come from would help "enable brands to build trust with their customers."
Whole Foods 365 Double Concentrated Paste was taken off the shelf in this Toronto store after Marketplace provided information about the Italian supplier and its business connections to Xinjiang. (Caitlin Taylor/CBC)
Even the Italian suppliers of store-brand products for Canada's most recognized grocers — Loblaws, Sobeys and Whole Foods — were found to be purchasing tomatoes from the Xinjiang region, although the grocers say no Chinese tomatoes are in their products.
One grocery chain, Whole Foods, has removed its store brand 365 Double Concentrated Tomato Paste from store shelves "out of an abundance of caution" after Marketplace provided information about their supplier.
"It's troubling," said Amรฉlie Nguyen, head of the International Centre for Workers' Solidarity, a Quebec non-governmental organization. "People should know where the products come from, they should be able to make choices about the food products they buy."
She says supermarkets need to investigate their global supply chains and "put pressure on the producers from Xinjiang to treat the workers better."
Food supply expert Amรฉlie Nguyen says grocers need to do more to investigate their supply chains to make sure they’re not using tomatoes from Xinjiang. (CBC)
China one of biggest suppliers of tomato paste concentrate
China is one of the world's biggest producers of tomato paste concentrate — exporting 855,490 tonnes globally last year. That paste is the foundation for finished tomato products seen on many store shelves.
The U.S. government banned tomato products from Xinjiang due to forced labour allegations earlier this year.
It's a much different story for Canada, however, where tomato products from Xinjiang are still flowing into the country.
To see how readily available these products were, CBC spent months mapping out the dizzying web of global suppliers — going undercover with Chinese companies and analyzing international shipping records — to connect Xinjiang tomatoes to multinational brands, some of which were on store shelves at Walmart and T&T, a grocery chain owned by Loblaws.
Export records, provided by Washington-based non-profit C4ADS, showed Del Monte, Unilever, Nestle and UFC NutriAsia purchased thousands of tonnes of tomato paste in the last two years from Cofco Tunhe, a company implicated in China's alleged forced labour scheme.
The tomato paste was shipped from Xinjiang to their factories in Southeast Asia, processed as spaghetti sauces and ketchups and then exported under the Product of Philippines, Product of India or Product of Pakistan country origin labels.
Nowhere on the labels did it mention the use of Xinjiang or Chinese tomatoes.
Canadian in-store brands have supplier links to Xinjiang
Marketplace found Canadian grocery stores such as Loblaws, Sobeys and Whole Foods work with Italian processors who conducted business with Xinjiang companies.
The Italian suppliers admitted to using Xinjiang tomatoes, but said these products don't come into Canada, they are sent instead to markets like the U.K, Australia and Africa.
One of those companies, Antonio Petti Fu Pasquale S.p.A., makes Whole Foods 365 Double Concentrated Tomato Paste. That processor, according to Italian import records obtained via a freedom of information request, ordered tomato paste from Cofco Tunhe in the first six months of 2021.
Whole Foods 365 Tomato Paste. Its Italian supplier sources imported tomatoes from Xinjiang, according to records obtained by FOI. Whole Foods says its paste is made with Italian tomatoes. (CBC)Del Monte (Philippines) tomato sauce was among the many tomato products linked to Xinjiang that Marketplace found on Canadian store shelves. Records show the company ordered tomato paste from Xinjiang in 2021. Del Monte Philippines, in an email, confirmed it used tomatoes from Xinjiang but denied it uses forced Uyghur labour, citing a letter from its Chinese supplier Cofco Tunhe. (CBC)
Antonio Petti Fu Pasquale S.p.A. — currently under investigation by Italian authorities for allegedly passing off foreign tomatoes as 100 per cent Italian — is a major processor that makes private label pastes and sauces for Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
Whole Foods said that the tomatoes in its "365 Concentrated Tomato Paste are grown and processed in Italy" and that it has third-party audits and raw material traceability records that support their claim.
Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, "strongly condemns" Whole Foods' business relationship with Petti.
"I urge them to stop immediately," said Tohti. "This is insane and unacceptable…. Regardless of whether there are Xinjiang tomatoes in their products, [they] are part of this forced labour supply chain and they are benefiting from it."
Following CBC's inquiries, Whole Foods said it pulled its 365 Double Concentrated Tomato Paste off store shelves and has cut ties with Petti as a supplier.
Bosa Foods Italissima tomato paste (produced in Italy). Its Italian supplier, Antonio Petti Fu Pasquale, sources tomatoes from Xinjiang, according to import records. Bosa Foods said its tomatoes are sourced from Italy or Europe. (CBC)
Another Canadian brand that also sources tomato products from Antonio Petti Fu Pasquale S.p.A. is B.C.-based Bosa Foods. It sells tomato paste under the Italissima brand.
Bosa Foods said it had been with Petti for many years and that the processor has assured the grocer that its code of ethics complied with internationally recognized human and labour rights standards.
Petti admitted it used Chinese tomatoes, but only for products destined for the African market.
Petti told CBC in an email that it "has a code of ethics to which it constantly strives to adapt commercial relations with foreign partners to respect human rights."
Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow in China Studies at Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said any company with ties to Xinjiang is ‘morally problematic.’ (Submitted by Adrian Zenz)
Zenz said these companies have "found a way to still make a profit off this oppression."
"It means that they are using a product that carries a high risk of forced labour and then they say, 'We don't sell this to the West because Western countries might have a problem with that, but it's fine to sell it to Africans,'" said Zenz.
'Lack of moral compass'
CBC also investigated some of Sobeys' and Loblaws' private brand tomato products — Compliments and President's Choice, respectively — and found that both are made by Italian processor La Doria, which, according to Italian import records, had purchased tomato paste from Xinjiang as recently as May 2021.
La Doria, a leading supplier of private brands globally, confirmed that it used Xinjiang tomatoes for grocers in the U.K., Europe, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia but not for Sobeys or Loblaws.
Loblaws' Italian supplier admits to using Xinjiang tomatoes, but not for Canada. (CBC)
Loblaws told CBC in an email that it shares "concern about labour conditions throughout the global supply chain and takes these matters very seriously."
Loblaws and Sobeys did not indicate whether they would sever their relationship with La Doria, despite the apparent contravention of their companies' stances on human rights violations by their suppliers.
"It really shows a lack of moral compass on the part of those companies," said Joanne Smith Finley, an expert on Uyghur affairs at Newcastle University. "It makes a mockery of their [corporate social responsibility] policies … they deserve to be challenged."
After CBC revealed its findings, La Doria said it would stop using tomato paste from Xinjiang.
'They live under constant fear'
Adil, a Uyghur Muslim, said every year up to 12 members of his family were forced to farm tomatoes in Xinjiang.
That meant planting seeds, harvesting crops and even working in factories, or risk appearing unpatriotic toward the Chinese government.
"The authorities may confiscate their lands, they confiscate their houses and they also confiscate their livestock…. It's very common that they will go to jail if they refuse to pay a fine," Adil said through a Chinese translator.
The Chinese Communist Party considers Uyghurs "extremists," and experts say it has taken harsh discriminatory measures toward them and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. This involves the alleged coerced transfer of Uyghurs throughout the region to do seasonal work like picking tomatoes and cotton. A more recent component, which has yielded international condemnation, involved putting over a million people into internment camps, where human rights abuses have taken place.
Adil escaped Xinjiang with his wife and kids and is now in the U.S. He said every year his family in China is forced to pick tomatoes. (Caleb Hargett)
Adil, whose name we've changed due to fear of retribution by the Chinese government toward his remaining family, recently escaped with his wife and kids and now resides in Washington, D.C.
"I felt very lucky. I thought it was a miracle that I could leave China," he said.
He says his remaining family is "still living under fear" and believes "if they are not in [internment] camps … my family is picking tomatoes. The Chinese Communist party has so many ways to torture you. No one can escape from their evil hands."
Undercover in Xinjiang and a pattern of forced labour
By analyzing government documents, state media reports and interviewing former Xinjiang residents, CBC pieced together a pattern of forced labour in the Chinese tomato trade going back years.
This involved the transfer of thousands of Uyghurs throughout the region to plant seeds, pick tomatoes or work in factories for many companies — including some of the biggest in China such as Cofco Tunhe Tomato and Xinjiang Guannong Tomato Products Co., under the pretense of "poverty alleviation."
Cofco, according to export records, sold tomato paste to international companies like Heinz and Del Monte; Guannong to Russian companies like Grandstar. Both Chinese companies also send to Italian processors.
They also have ties to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a paramilitary organization linked to Xinjiang's agricultural sector. The XPCC, according to a report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, has been connected to the large-scale surveillance, detention and indoctrination program targeting Uyghurs and other groups.
CBC, with the help of Adrian Zenz, analyzed many Chinese state media (and translated) reports that showed the transfer of Uyghurs to tomato fields and factories in Xinjiang, under the pretense of “poverty alleviation. (CBC)
But one would never suspect anything nefarious was going on based on the undercover conversations Marketplace producers, posing as tomato traders of a fabricated company, had with Cofco and Guannong representatives during virtual tours.
WATCH | CBC's Asha Tomlinson and Eric Szeto go undercover on virtual tours with tomato companies in Xinjiang China:
CBC Marketplace's Asha Tomlinson and Eric Szeto posed as tomato brokers to get access to Chinese tomato companies and asked them questions about the use of Uyghur labour in their workforce. In Xinjiang, a remote area of western China, Uyghurs are subjected to mass detention, surveillance and torture by the Chinese government. 2:47
When the undercover journalists asked Cofco and Guannong about whether they used Uyghur labour, the companies were either evasive or downplayed how much they relied on it.
But documents CBC analyzed not only showed Cofco Tunhe involved in labour transfers, it stated in a 2020 press release that it collaborated with local governments to employ Uyghurs as a way to promote "national unity."
A Cofco representative denied using any forced Uyghur labour and did not respond to further requests for comment after CBC revealed they were journalists.
Chinese state media reports also showed that Guannong had been involved in the transfer of hundreds of Uyghur workers to its factories as recently as 2020. But a representative from Guannong said that the company also did not use Uyghur forced labour, and did not respond to further questions after CBC revealed themselves as journalists.
CBC created a tomato trading company seen in this screenshot. Undercover journalists were able to get virtual factory tours with companies accused of using Uyghur forced labour in China. (CBC)
Dru Gladney, a professor and expert on Uyghur studies at Pomona College in California, believes forced labour in China's tomato trade is "very, very pervasive."
"It's not surprising that Uyghur labour is often forcibly utilized, because often these are low paying or menial jobs," said Gladney.
Canadian government yet to ban tomatoes
The Canadian government has sanctioned four Chinese officials and another division over what is described as "gross and systemic human rights violations" in Xinjiang, but it has yet to issue an import ban on tomato products from the region.
Employment and Social Development Canada said in a statement that it was "progressing on a number of cases" and was working "to identify trade patterns and specific shipments potentially affected by forced labour for consideration and possible enforcement."
Even though the Canadian government has the ability to seize imports if they are found to be produced wholly or in part by forced labour, it has yet to enforce those rules.
Managers shouldn't decide if employee vaccine views are valid:
federal unions
The Canadian Press - Oct 29, 2021 / 6:53 am | Story: 350079
Photo: The Canadian Press
Friday is the deadline for employees in the core federal public service to declare their COVID-19 vaccination status, but unions say there are still many questions about how requests for accommodations will be handled.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says 240,000 employees have filed their attestations of their vaccine status to the government, out of approximately 268,000.
Chris Aylward, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, says there is a big hole in the policy when it comes to deciding if unvaccinated people should be accommodated under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
He says unions are very concerned that it is left up to individual managers to determine if employee's religious or conscience convictions about vaccines are valid.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said exemptions will be difficult and onerous to obtain, and simply having a personal conviction that vaccines are "bad" will not be sufficient.
Unvaccinated employees who have not been offered some kind of accommodation will be put on unpaid leave as of Nov. 15, and the government said previously those employees will not qualify for employment insurance benefits.
