A member of Advocates Network is calling for “independent minds” to form part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s special fact-finding team to investigate conditions of Jamaican workers under the Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers (farm work) Programme.

In a terse release on Thursday, the labour ministry announced a six-member tripartite team which is expected to travel to Canada to observe operations and speak with workers on farms, and provide a report to Labour Minister Karl Samuda.

Speaking on behalf of the network on Saturday, Father Sean Major-Campbell says the group welcomes any process that will determine the truth of the plight faced by some workers.

“I would say any process leading to truth must, of necessity, be affirmed. The Advocates Network seeks and affirms truth. That is what we are interested in,” Major-Campbell told OBSERVER ONLINE.

“We also believe that any independent representative should be facilitated on the team of investigators,” he stressed.

Major-Campbell, who is an Anglican priest and a human rights advocate, said it is important to note that Jamaicans are known for making the best of challenging situations.

The Advocates Network, in a release on Thursday, quoted an Al Jazeera report published on August 22 which said that the farm workers, who are affiliated with the human rights group Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, described their experience as ‘systematic slavery and being ‘treated like mules’.

Major-Campbell pointed to the history of the transatlantic slave trade which has influenced Jamaicans to “refuse to continue under modern day manifestations of slavery, racism, and colonial supremacy in different forms”.

“Our people continue to pay with their lives and with their dignity after 500 years of the transatlantic slave trade.

“… And so, every time our people experience any of what we are hearing about now in terms of the complaints, we cannot separate that from the painfulness of slavery and the need for reparatory justice,” he said.

Major-Campbell argued that it was important to recognise the importance of including independent minds in any investigation of the truth.

“I believe the ministry must put together a team it sees fit (however) I just believe that it is also okay for us in wider civil society to note the value of including independent minds,” he commented.

There has been growing calls for Samuda to resign after his claims that during a recent visit to Canada that he saw “no evidence of mistreatment” of workers.

Asked whether the labour minister should be replaced or removed, Major-Campbell said he had no views on the matter.

“I personally have not formed an opinion with regards to who should be replaced, resigned, etcetera, etcetera. The matter that’s high on the agenda is the truth surrounding what is happening with our people, our fellow Jamaicans,” said the Anglican priest.

At the same time, he is calling for transparency from the Jamaican Government and the Canadian authorities in regards to the farm work programme going forward.

“An abundance of transparency would help in terms of the accountability from the powers that be in foreign territories, and an abundance of transparency on the part of our leaders here who facilitate the farm work programme,” he said.

“We know again that our people make the best of the situation. So it is something that can be to the good of our people, but it should not be at the expense of their dignity, of their worth, of their lives,” Major-Campbell concluded.