By J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator
Three years after a farm worker was killed in a Norfolk County ginseng field, charges against the farm’s owners and a supervisor have been dropped.
Norfolk County OPP said the victim was working on Concession 13 Townsend, north of Simcoe, on the afternoon of Sept. 23, 2021, when they were hit by a piece of equipment that fell off a trailer.
The badly injured worker died at the scene.
After a nearly year-long investigation, the provincial Labour Ministry charged three people under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) with failing to “provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker” and failing to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.”
The ministry did not name the accused, referring to them as two individuals “carrying on business in partnership as Lan Anh Ginseng Farm” and a supervisor from Golden Ginseng Farm.
According to the court docket, Duc Duong Pham and Lan Thu Quach were charged on Sept. 15, 2022, and Anh Van Phan was charged one year to the day of the worker’s death, on Sept 23, 2022.
In an email, a spokesperson for the ministry said all charges against the three accused were withdrawn during a brief court appearance in Simcoe on Sept. 12 “due to the Crown having determined that it lacked a reasonable prospect of conviction.”
“The decision to withdraw charges is within the prosecutorial discretion of the Crown. As such, the ministry has no further comment,” the spokesperson said.
Three judicial pretrials that were closed to the public were held ahead of the September hearing.
Chris Ramsaroop, co-founder of the advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers, called it “extremely concerning” that the charges were withdrawn. He criticized the lack of information shared by government about the worker’s death and the subsequent investigation.
“The fact that we know so little tells us a lot,” Ramsaroop told The Spectator.
“If this was another industry — construction, mining — there would be multiple regulations put in place to ensure that every aspect for the work undertaken works smoothly. In agriculture, that simply doesn’t exist. The transparency doesn’t exist. And it’s so haphazard that, by design, these places are going to be continue to be dangerous and deadly.”
Little known about victim
Neither the police nor the Labour Ministry would confirm the victim’s identity.
Shortly after the incident, someone claiming to be a co-worker launched an online fundraiser seeking $15,000 to send the worker’s remains back to his native Vietnam, and support his wife and children there.
The fundraiser identified the deceased as Van Ngoc Le, with a photo seemingly taken from a Facebook profile of the same name.
The fundraiser’s organizer did not return a message from The Spectator and the GoFundMe page has since been deactivated.
Justice for Migrant Workers has called for more legal protection for Ontario farm workers, including tougher labour laws to protect workers from extreme heat and harmful pesticides.
Many migrant workers and temporary foreign workers are in Canada on work permits tied to specific employers, putting them at greater risk of abuse, advocates say.
“This is not just about one employer. Workers don’t have protections,” Ramsaroop said.
“It’s really angering that agriculture continues to remain an industry where there’s very little regulation and oversight.”
In an email, the Labour Ministry spokesperson defended the province’s response to workplace deaths.
“The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development takes workplace fatalities very seriously and conducts thorough investigations to ensure the safety of all Ontario workers,” the statement read.
“The ministry enforces the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations, which are among the strictest in Canada.”
Emails sent to Lan Anh Ginseng Farm and co-owner Lan Thu Quach were not returned.
Lan Anh Ginseng Farm was advertising for farm labourer jobs as recently as July. Labourers were promised 30 to 40 hours of weekly seasonal work at $16.55 per hour to plant, clean, cultivate and harvest the ginseng crop.
Candidates were offered free parking and “on-site housing options” for jobs that involved evening, weekend and early-morning shifts.
Ramsaroop said it is increasingly difficult for worker advocates and the general public to find out about deaths on Ontario farms, which leaves new hires vulnerable.
“Like in most occupations, there’s an under-reporting of injuries as well,” Ramsaroop said.
“So the true (picture) of how deadly and dangerous the industry (is) is going to be kept hidden.”
