“Every year, when I leave, my mother and my partner are very sad. We now want to have children, but it’s complicated because I spend almost half the year away. Being separated for a long time is hard on a family. Even though I love working in Quebec, it’s difficult being away from family and friends, but I love the tranquility and quality of life here.”
The one who speaks thus is called Maximino. He is a Mexican farm worker. Every year for the past 15 years, he leaves his warm native country for the North, more precisely for the Île d’Orléans, where he goes to work for about six months growing fruit and vegetables.
Maximino delivers a moving testimony of his experiences on Quebec soil in an exhibition entitled Beyond migrant agricultural work, people in their own right. This initiative by Professor Stéphanie Arsenault, from the School of Social Work and Criminology at Laval University, was carried out with the collaboration of the François-Lamy Foundation, thePartnership research team on cultural diversity and immigration in the Quebec region directed by Professor Arsenault, Support network for migrant agricultural workers in Quebec and the House of our Forefathers.
On June 30, the opening of the exhibition will take place at the Maison de nos Aïeux located in Sainte-Famille-de-l’Île-d’Orléans.
A workforce to be humanized
“The aim of this exhibition is to invite the population to get to know the migrant agricultural workers of Île d’Orléans from an angle other than that of labor; it aims to humanize them, explains the professor. There are around a thousand of them, the majority of whom are Guatemalans. They are also human beings with a personal, family life for the majority of the 16 people presented in the exhibition.
The exhibition is based on a series of texts taken from interviews that Stéphanie Arsenault conducted with migrant workers. The discussions took place in Spanish, a language she learned during a stay of several years in Latin America. Photographs of the workers taken by the professor accompany the texts presented in French, Spanish and English.
“I tried to ensure that the testimonies revealed certain elements of their living conditions,” she emphasizes. One of them told me that he is in his sixth summer on the island with a winegrower. Overall, it’s going well, he likes it a lot. But he explains that he never had the opportunity to go to Quebec. Another has been here for 20 years and has never had the opportunity to learn French.”
Throughout the testimonies, many say they regret not being able to see their children grow up and not being able to support their spouse in daily life. “One of them,” she continues, “talked about the birth of his son, how distressing he found it that his child was born in his absence. The first time he saw him, he was five months old. Births, deaths, marital difficulties, they recounted the important events of their lives. At the same time, they talk about their pride in owning a house in their country and being able to provide education for their children.”
Spouses and fathers
On the island, migrant agricultural workers are almost exclusively men. Most are in couples and are fathers of children. They are between 18 and over 60 years old. Some are in their twentieth, even their twenty-fifth year on the island. “There are a few women among this workforce,” indicates Stéphanie Arsenault. I met some who work in greenhouses.”
Some are illiterate. And many do not have Spanish as their mother tongue, being from indigenous peoples. For example, many Guatemalans are of Mayan ancestry.
Javier, a farm worker of Guatemalan origin, has been working in Canada for seven years. This indigenous Guatemalan, whose mother tongue is Cakchiquel, picks strawberries and tends the crops. He is married and has a young daughter.
Mexicans and Guatemalans are distributed among dozens of farms. Companies have several dozen migrant workers. They generally live on site and live together in groups, which represents a challenge.
“They all have a smartphone,” she explains. It keeps them connected to their family. They use it in their moments of rest. In the evening to talk to their spouse or children or before going to work in the morning. They also use the phone to listen to Latin American TV series or football matches. All this generates a lot of noise, which can be chaotic. It can be extremely difficult to have peace of mind.”
Hard workers
“Their life context is very particular,” maintains the professor. People usually start arriving at the end of March after getting off the plane at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, before being driven directly to their final destination. They work a lot, more than 40 hours a week. They say their work is extremely hard and physically exhausting. From spring to fall, many of them prepare the fields, weed, sow and harvest. Poultry or dairy farms require their presence almost all year round. Picking strawberries and apples is labor intensive.”
The only day off for these workers is Sunday. “Many people like fishing,” she emphasizes. I met several of them at the Quai de Saint-Laurent. We often see them playing soccer on the village field. Thursday at the end of the day is the big peak of the week. They board buses and go to the north bank of the river, in Beauport, to do their shopping. There are hundreds of them.”
Enrique, a worker of Mexican origin, has been working in Canada for two years. He is photographed here in the square in front of the church in the municipality of Saint-Laurent, on Île d’Orléans. Many migrant agricultural workers on the island are Christians and believers, primarily Catholics. Many of them participate in Sunday services on the island.
Quite an adaptation challenge
According to Stéphanie Arsenault, they have quite the adaptation challenge to take on. “They are generally people with little education, often farmers,” she says. When they return home, they tend their fields. Here, they do not master the language used in their living environment. They feel in a completely unequal balance of power. They feel “unequal”, which somewhat puts them in a position of submission.”
Some come to Île d’Orléans for approximately six months per year, others may stay longer, and the majority repeat the experience over the long term.
“They are not here for a short period of time,” she says. They show a lot of ability to adapt. They give a lot of themselves in this professional adventure. Time and energy, and a part of their family life. But they would never find a competitive job like theirs in their country of origin. Financially, they will never achieve the kind of income they get here. They pay a very high price to have access to this type of job.”
As a reminder, Quebec farms welcome more than 25,000 migrant agricultural workers annually. In the Quebec region, at the height of the summer season, there are a few thousand. They come mainly from Guatemala, but also from Mexico.
To visit the exhibition Beyond migrant agricultural work, people in their own right, meet at the Maison de nos Aïeux (2485, chemin Royal, Sainte-Famille-de-l’Île-d’Orléans). For information: 418 829-0330 or write to [email protected].
