The globalization of international migration is the result of the North-South divide, that is, the discrepancy in economic and

political stability, social conditions and life expectancy among others (Castles and Miller !"#$ %s a result, temporary migration programs have been introduced in many developed countries in order to assist various industries (particularly the agricultural sector# that experience a shortage of employees$ This is often done under the pretence of providing seasonal migrant &or'ers &ith employment opportunity &hich is a tactic many believe is a covert form of racism by means of economic exploitation, especially since evidence sho&s that migrant &or'ers are often mistreated (Castles ((#$ The Seasonal %gricultural )or'ers *rogram (S%)*# &as developed for the purpose of assisting farmers &ho &ere particularly under pressure due to the labour deficit in agriculture (+inford !#$ The *rogram has indeed assisted Canadian farmers by delivering to them experienced migrant &or'ers from Mexico and the Caribbean &ho are faced &ith minimum &ages and fe& legal rights (,ustice for Migrant )or'ers #$ The Seasonal %gricultural )or'ers- *rogram is an example of institutional discrimination as it deprives non-&hite, seasonal &or'ers of certain rights for the sa'e of stimulating agricultural production and ultimately increasing the profits of Canadian farmers and economy$

Temporary labour migration, a phenomenon lin'ed to globalization, has long been an indispensable part of the &orld economic order and has been actively pursued by

governments and companies (Castles and Miller .!#$ Canadian farmers ta'e in temporary migrant &or'ers because it is cheap, docile, non-unionized, and the individuals are &illing to ta'e on menial tas's/ in addition, it helps Canada achieve labour flexibility &hich is a critical feature of accumulation in the contemporary capitalist economy (*reibisch "! #$ Third )orld authoritarian governments are also &illing to encourage such moves since they help slo& their urban population gro&th, increase foreign exchange revenues through remittances sent home, and because these Third )orld countries are reliant on the )est for political support (+inford "#$ The program-s external benefits exist in the supplying of 0obs for non-Canadian individuals &ho are see'ing opportunity through employment1 2)or'ers and employers sign a contract that outlines respective rights and obligations and length of employment that generally ranges bet&een three to eight months3 (,ustice for Migrant )or'ers #$ 4ue to the detail in the contract &hich states that &or'ers can be sent home before the season ends, the migrants become vulnerable to exploitation as they fear being sent home if the tas' is not completed or enough hours are not &or'ed in a &ee'$ Statistics sho& that an average of eighteen thousand &or'ers enter Canada to &or' at lo& &ages and do rigorous &or' that Canadian permanent residents are un&illing to carry out ()alia 5#$ Temporary migrant &or'ers are a modern-day example of colonization and regressive and discriminatory policies &hich promote 6&hite privilege-$ Some examples of 2,usticia7,ustice for Migrant )or'ers3 provided &ere1 -cultural differences and acute pay discrimination -&or'ing !- 8 hour days &ithout overtime and denied necessary brea's

-use of dangerous chemicals &ithout safety e9uipment -being crammed into substandard housing &ith inade9uate &ashrooms -unfair pay deductions such as :; and other services &hich they have little or no access to -inade9uate health attention and service and exclusion from basic human rights -unavailable to claim residency or obtain educational opportunities for children despite extensive years of &or' in Canada Temporary &or'er programs and restrictions are not only morally offensive but also politically less and less tenable in )estern societies, li'e Canada, &hich is a highly developed 6multi-cultural- society$ 2The reality of migration is one that reveals the asymmetrical relations bet&een 6rich- and 6poor- and bet&een North and South, &here the effects of colonialism and corporate globalization have created political economies that compel people to move3 ()alia !#$ ;ndividuals &ho &or' in a country that is not theirs in order to better their lives should not be denied the opportunity to apply for citizenship &ithin that country, especially &hen they pay taxes that positively affect the economy (Martin !!#$ The past ideology of a &hite settler nation seems to still be the impression in Canadian institutions/ institutions physically built on the bac's of immigrants$

%s &hiteness has been normalized in Canadian society, institutional forms of racism &hich place non-&hite individuals at a disadvantage can exist because the populace assumes that Canadian programs are egalitarian and non-discriminatory$ <nfair policies, such that S%)* participants are paid little more than provincial minimums for their labour and must 2pay into the Canadian *ension *lan (CC*#, and until a recent court challenged, paid employment insurance &hich they &ere unable to collect3 are often not

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exposed to the public (+inford !#$ These in0ustices may lead us to 9uestioning &hy a program &hich allo&s the exploitation of non-&hite persons is almost never publicly criticized$ The ans&er lies in the fact that the ma0ority of Canadians believe that this is a society in &hich Canadian rules and policies are universal and faultless and thus should not be 9uestioned (Mac'ey (5#$ =thers believe that it is natural for non-Canadian citizens to encounter discrimination$ Conse9uently, they remain preoccupied &ith cases of discrimination &hile those &ho encounter racial discrimination or &ho 'no& of its existence often do not have the po&er to ma'e a statement$ ;n defence of the S%)*, politicians argue that program &or'ers are treated better here than they &ould be at home and that &ith conversion rates, seemingly lo& &ages have much more value in Mexico and other Caribbean nations (*reibisch "!>#$ The government also promotes the positive aspects of the temporary migrant programs, causing people to believe that they are beneficial programs based on fairness and acceptance of cultural diversity (+a'an and Stasiulis 5#$ ?o&ever, because people believe Canada to have remar'able multicultural policies &hich benefit not only Canadians but also immigrants, Canadian practices, programs and policies are left alone$ Conse9uently, criticisms of these programs are left to small grassroots organizations or scholars &ho do not have the authority to change these discriminatory practices$

The Seasonal )or'ers %gricultural *rogram is discriminatory in an exceptionally covert &ay in that it appears to be beneficial to both parties but is truly only advantageous

to one1 the Canadian party$ Sac's and @indholm argue that modern racism or discrimination is 2subtle and direct3 and &or's to 2locate &hite people in a structurally advantageous social position3 &hich becomes evident &hen &e critically examine the )or'ers *rogram ( 5.#$ %ccording to Castles, there has been a changing nature of racism as a result of globalization ( ("#$ ?e asserts that any program that practices exclusion or inferiorization is racist as it not only gives underprivileged migrant &or'ers (usually non-&hite# une9ual opportunities in relation to those around them but it also sends them a&ay &hen they are no longer needed ( . #$ ;n the case of the Seasonal %gricultural )or'er-s *rogram, farmers, &ho are predominantly &hite males, being granted the po&er to decide the &ages, farm duties and &or' schedule for the migrant &or'ers/ these in turn are, as &e have seen, are often oppressive$ ;n most cases, the decisions they ma'e are beneficial to them only and therefore they are placed at an advantageous position in &hich they can sub0ugate the migrant &or'er$ The un&illingness of the Canadian government to grant migrant &or'ers citizenship or rights that citizens are entitled to demonstrates that the *rogram is exclusionary and thus, racist$ *eggy Mc;ntosh states that she 2&as taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance in my group3 and many Canadians undoubtedly have been educated in the same &ay ( #$ Aarmers &ho employ migrant &or'ers may be una&are that they are adhering to a racist policy or believe that they are providing migrant &or'ers &ith employment &hich they could not find in their o&n country$ Therefore, it is possible that they are ignorant of the

fact they are promoting a discriminatory policy$ Begardless, the migrant &or'ers &ho should receive the same rights as Canadian &or'ers do not$ ;f they did receive the same rights, farmers &ould not be at such an advantage in regards to profits and po&er and various in0ustices that Canadian farmers have been practicing &ould be inexistent$ Therefore discrimination is evidently reinforced by the *rogram because it &as created and continues to exist in order to benefit the Canadian farmers, the Canadian economy and the Canadian people &ho in the most part, refuse to be employed on farms$

Significant changes have occurred as a result of globalization and as noted above, an important outcome is the emergence of temporary migrant &or'ers$ These Mexican and Caribbean migrant &or'ers choose to &or' in North %merica because they are often faced &ith unemployment, underemployment, political instability, violence, urban migration and in the case of Mexico, dropping rates of fertility (Castles and Miller 8!#$ The Canadian government, ho&ever, is the beneficiary of this program as it allo&s Canada to maintain a competitive advantage in the global agricultural field &hile it fills unsolicited 0ob position$ The seemingly innocent Seasonal %gricultural )or'ers *rogram is therefore a form of institutional discrimination as it is used to benefit Canadian farmers and Canadian economy by disadvantaging migrant &or'ers from developing countries$ Though these labourers contribute to our economy and livelihood, the compensation and treatment they receive is inade9uate and un0ust in a society &hich is accredited for protecting human rights$ This form of institutional racism &hich functions in a significantly discrete &ay has individually affected each Canadian because

&e all reap the benefits of &hat underprivileged &or'ers so& and not abroad but here in =ntarioC (+inford !#$ )e have eaten the produce farmed by Canada-s migrant &or'ers &ithout considering that perhaps their rights are infringed upon or that the program &as created to benefit predominantly &hite Canadian farmers/ many believe that the program &as created in order to assist farmers from the developing &orld$ This fact in itself demonstrates institutional racism in Canadian society as institutional forms of racism are often hidden behind the rather misleading vie& of Canada as an outstandingly multicultural and 0ust society$

)or's Cited
+inford, @eah$ The Seasonal %griculture )or'ers *rogram and Mexican 4evelopment$ ))) 4ocument$ %vailable at http177&&&$focal$ca7pdf7ppDleighDbinford$pdf$ Castles, Stephen. Age of migration international population movements in the modern world. New York: Guilford P, 1 !. Castles, Stephen. Age of migration international population movements in the modern world. New York: Guilford P, 1 !. ,usticia7,ustice for Migrant )or'ers - ,"M)$ The Seasonal %gricultural )or'ers *rogram$ ))) 4ocument$ %vailable at1 http177&&&$0usticia"migrant&or'ers$org7bc7pdf7sa&p$pdf$ Mac'ey, :va ( EEE#$ 2The +ottom @ine1 Canada Airst and the @imits of @iberalism,3 The ?ouse of 4ifference1 Cultural *olitics and National ;dentity in Canada$ @ondon1 Boutledge$ Mc;ntosh, *eggy$ :xcerpts from 2)hite *rivilegeF31 <npac'ing the ;nvisible Gnapsac'$
*reibisch, G$ !>>.a$ 2@ocal produce, foreign labor1 @abor mobility programs and global trade competitiveness in Canada$3 Rural Sociology .!(5#1" HI""E$ JJJ !>>.b$ 2Klobalizing &or', globalizing citizenship1

Negotiating Citizenship: The case of foreign domestic workers in Canada Authors: 4aiva Stasiulis/ %bigail +$ +a'an DOI: >$ >H>7> " ..HE.55E(H. Publication re!uenc": issue per year Published in: Aeminist Bevie&(on-@ine#, Lolume 8., ;ssue ! - 5E #ub$ect: Social Sciences/ ormats a%ailable: *4A (:nglish#

September EE. , pages

Sac's, Michael %lan and Mari'a @indholm (!>>!#$ 6% Boom )ithout % Lie&$ Social 4istance and the Structuring of *rivileged ;dentity-, pp$ !E- 8 ;N Cynthia )alia, ?arsha$ 2Colonialism, Capitalism and the ma'ing of the %partheid System of Migration in Canada3$ Mnet, March ", !>>($ http177&&&$zmag$org7content7printDarticle$cfmFitem;4NEH8>Osection;4N Martin, Philip L. "Managing Labor Migration: Temporary Worker Programs for the 21st Century" (Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies, 2003 .