Massive victory for migrant workers who had their DNA wrongfully harvested by OPP

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) released a 64-page ruling in which it found the OPP had engaged in racial discrimination during its DNA sweep of migrant farm workers, and as a result of this bundle of evidence, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Ministry of the Solicitor General have destroyed the DNA profiles that the OPP illegally obtained from 96 migrant farm workers in October 2013.

Back then the OPP conducted a DNA sweep near Bayham, Ontario where 96 migrant farm workers (mainly from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) were forced to provide samples of their DNA as part of a criminal investigation.

This landmark decision made headlines in 2022, and what is more troubling is that the DNA samples had been obtained from workers even if they had alibis, or they did not match the suspect description.

The decision showed how the police took advantage of the systematic mistreatment experienced by participants of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and used the workers’ employers to obtain the DNA samples fraudulently.

This does not stop here; OPP is also required to seal the investigative file containing the workers’ personal information, and also to develop a policy around DNA sweeps to ensure that future investigations comply with Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

The 54 migrant farm workers who pursued the case will each receive $7,500 in human rights damages (which collectively amounts to $405,000), and the destruction of the DNA profiles is part of a global settlement of the remedies portion of the case, which was scheduled before the HRTO last month.

Thanks to Justicia 4 Migrant Workers (J4MW), lawyer Shane Martinez and the immigrant workers who played a vital role in making sure that this case did not fall between the cracks. This is an historic and precedent-setting victory in the bigger struggle against racist and racialized policing. It also draws attention to the fact that much work remains to be done at the federal level.

Here are some of the demands that J4MW is pursuing, an end to unilateral repatriations and disbarment, and equal access to entitlements such as EI and CPP. At the provincial level: ensure that all agricultural workers are provided with full protections under provincial workplace legislation including the right to healthcare, the right to unionize, and end enforcement of occupational health and safety protections.

HRTO’s decision hinged in part on the OHRC’s decision to get rid of racial unfairness in law enforcement noting that the OPP’s disregard of other aspects of the victim’s description and instead leaning towards race, also “Raises concerns of racial profiling under the OHRC policy.”

“Migrant workers are among the most vulnerable workers in Ontario, and we must continue to offer them the protections that all workers and community members are entitled to,” said OHRC Chief Commissioner Patricia DeGuire. “The OHRC is pleased with the result because of the historical challenges of establishing race-based cases.”