MONTREAL – A 64-year-old man struck and killed by lightning Tuesday evening while harvesting lettuce in an open field south of Montreal.
He was declared dead on arrival at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay, Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado of the Sûreté du Québec confirmed Wednesday morning.
The man was working into the evening – during unsettled weather – as part of a field crew performing stoop labour in the fertile agricultural belt south of Montreal.
Site of the strike was the La Légumière Y C Inc. farm on Rang Ste. Thérèse in St. Rémi, according to the address provided on the police report.
Co-workers reported the man was hit at 7:30 p.m.
“I believe it was a single bolt,” del Prado said.
More detail on the circumstances – including whether weather conditions were considered in the decision to keep harvesting, and the size of the crew – were not immediately available, he added.
Get breaking National news
The name of the deceased was not disclosed.
“He was of Guatemalan origin,” del Prado said.
- ‘I totally cried’: Condolences after Calgary polar bear’s sudden death
- Auto insurance premiums rising: Here’s what you can do to trim the bill
- N.S. girl saved by off-duty nurse when rogue wave pulled her out to sea
- MP alleges Boissonnault’s former business partner ‘in contempt’ of parliamentary order
It could not be immediately confirmed whether the deceased man was on the federal summer-agricultural-worker program, under which a considerable amount of seasonal labour is temporarily imported each growing season from Latin American nations.
In a recent report on the increasing importation of such stoop labour, the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada, known in Quebec as TUAC Canada, pegged the number of seasonally imported migrant farmworkers in Quebec each summer at close to 4,000.
In another report issued at the start of this year, one with a considerably wider scope, the national union said it deals with more than 50,000 migrant workers each year.
Those migrants – not just those brought in to toil in the fields, but also caregivers and others – face considerable challenges, according to the union:
“The threat of termination and repatriation, whether explicit or implicit,” according to the latter report, “continues to prevent migrant workers from being able to voice concerns about employment standards, health and safety violations, housing, or transportation.
“Employers continue to misinform migrant workers regarding their right to continue to continue to reside in Canada for the remainder of their work visa, even though they may be laid off …
Unscrupulous employers continue to subject migrant workers to low pay, dangerous and hazardous work conditions, unpaid overtime and mistreatment without recourse due to their power to repatriate workers at will.
“In rare cases, when workers have chosen to speak out about workplace violations, employers have used repatriation as a successful means of controlling and silencing their workforce.” at close to 4,000.
Comments