2015-07-16
Lenore Klassen
Windsor Star
Well, Ken Enns, it is with mixed emotions of sorrow and concern that I read your article. We have travelled to Jamaica 6 times and seen first hand how thousands of families have benefitted from the SAWP. Indeed the island absolutely could not survive without it. I have also seen first hand how WSIB policies have destroyed the lives of injured farm workers and robbed them of the ability to provide food or even a basic education for their children. In 2008 one of our neighbours had his hand crushed in a forklift accident. He has been in continual pain since then and lost the use of his hand. The pain and anguish experienced by his family is gut wrenching. My friend Jodie and I have been supporting his family in Jamaica since 2010 when WSIB cut him off from any financial support or physical therapy. He was told he could still work in a gas bar with one hand. In Niagara. ( I have a copy of the letter ) We try to send down $500 EVERY month to try to keep the family from starving however they often go without meals and it is not enough to provide an adequate diet with proper nutrition. Additional financial help is required to keep the children in school. The issue is not how the men are treated personally by their employers. The issue is a broken insurance system that simply discards the injured workers knowing that there are thousands more desperate to fill their vacancies. I also believe the farmers are being totally ripped off by the huge remittances they make to WSIB thinking that their employees will be covered. The inner workings of WSIB, CEO David Marshall and tragedies that have resulted from the deeming policy he personally created need to be exposed.
Ontario and Jamaica
Ingles
