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economist suntribune agriculture saturday sept 7 2002 miguel sandavol paul brooks and gregorio rios- cortes at the brooks farm in mount albert about 1800 migrant workers including mr sandavol and mr rioscortes from places like mexico and jamaica work at york region and simcoe county farms staff photo erin riley farm owner visits workertriends in mexico from page 1 ministry of natural resources mr orio is one of about 16000 caribbean and mexican workers mostly men who work in the ontario fruit and vegetable industry its a bilateral signed agreement between the two countries explained dave greenhill senior advisor for the foreign workers pro gram these programs have been going on since 1966 and theyve been very suc cessful said mr greenhill the workers carry out the planting and harvesting the farm owners cant all of the migrant workers are older than 18 and each meets immigration stan dards most are married men explained mr greenhill their primary goal is to support their families mr brooks pointed out they are serious about their work and serious about why they come here about 1800 offshore workers arrive every spring in york region and simcoe county including the holland marsh two to four migrant workers are also placed on small farm opera tions in the local area this marks mr orios 10th year working in ontario half of that time has been at the brooks farm in mount albert the rest in leamington pack ing tomatoes and before that in a nursery operation in niagara falls the moneys attractive and the work con ditions are good the brooks farm at the corner of mount albert road and durham road 30 has been in the family for more than 120 years corn soy bean strawberries and rasp berries are the main crops right now migrant work ers are concentrating on cov ering strawberry plants with straw to protect them from the cold of winter and ensure when mr orio and coworker miguel sandoval arrive next may there will be a crop to harvest in june tried to hire locally finding help has been a challenge said mr brooks weve tried to hire local young people but between their swimming lessons and their having to go to the mall the work didnt get done it became an impossible situa tion on the other hand the migrant workers are adults they want to work they like to work and they do a very good job its not all sweat and toil for the migrant workers mr orio and mr sandoval 32 attend a spanish mass at st elizabeth setoh roman catholic church in newmarket once a month during the recent world youth days events in toronto volunteers escorted mr orio and mr sandoval and other migrant workers to see pope john paul ii arrive alive please dont drink and drive this message brought to you is a community service of the economist suntribune protect the lfyour lily buckle up safety c brought to you r twice of ursonfmsune m tjs colon personal support worker course its not too late the york region district school board is offering a personal support worker program in unionville richmond hill keswick bathurst clark earn up to 55 high school credits and get your psw certificate cost 495 registration will be held monday september 9th 430 pm 630 pm richmond hill adult community learning centre 1 1 1 60 yonge street richmond hill cant attend on the 9th have more questions call 9057270473 jean lashley coordinates social activities for the spanishspeaking communi ty at the newmarket church as well as providing trans portation to church for the mexican migrant workers mrs lashley organizes other outings theres a spanish community in york region the migrant workers blend in she said this marks the fifth year the brooks family has employed offshore workers realizing language would be an issue mr brooks took spanish lessons at a newmarket high school he also encouraged the mexican workers to help him learn the language mr brooks is now fluent in spanish mr sandoval is following in his fathers footsteps a migrant worker for more than 20 years the elder mr sandoval worked on farms in canada until 1995 throughout most of mr sandovals childhood he didnt see his dad for half of the year yes he missed him but mr sandoval senior not only supported his fami ly well he managed to save enough to buy a farm in mexico today the sandoval farm is thriving my father owns 25 milking cows said a very proud mr sandoval family tradition this year marks mr sandovals fourth season as an offshore worker like his father he looks out for his family and like his father hes building a tidy nest egg before corning to the brooks farm mr sandoval spent three years working on veg etable farms in quebec married to lucia the cou ple has four children under eight years old mr sandoval talks to his wife and little ones on the telephone twice a week its good to talk to home he said as far as mr brooks is concerned mr orio and mr sandoval are more than workers theyre our friends he stressed ive been to mexico and when i go i stay with greg in puebla and in the future ill visit miguel we 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