LONDON, ONT. -- A Norfolk County farmer has won his appeal following a battle with the local health unit over the use of migrant workers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, the Health Services Appeal and Review Board ruled that the maximum of three seasonal workers per bunkhouse order be scrapped, originally made by the medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk County, Dr. Shanker Nesathurai.
The appeal was made by farmer Brett Schuyler who lost 72 acres of asparagus this spring because of the added red tape.
"For example, one of my accommodations is 4400 square feet," Schuyler told CTV News last month.
"We have six separate bedrooms, seven toilets, eight showers...and we're told that's a three-person accommodation. Because of that, I only have 30 of my 103 workers," Schuyler said.
Dr. Nesathurai used a Section 22 Order of the Health Protection and Promotion Act to implement the bunkhouse directive.
Although the board ruled that the remainder of the Section 22 Order remain.
It states that the employer must provide a list of names of all seasonal workers scheduled to arrive in Canada, along with their planned date of arrival and a plan for isolating the workers shared and approved by the health unit.
Schuyler retained London law firm Lerners LLP in his fight.
His lawyer Andrea Plumb told CTV News in May that Norfolk County was the only in the province to be imposed with the Section 22 Order, creating an unfair playing field.
"It means you can have a farm on one side of the road in Noforlk County which is subjected to these restrictions and economic impacts and you can cross the road to say Elgin County who isn't restricted by this order," said Plumb.
