There was anger and disbelief among the shed rows at Hastings Racecourse after as many as 26 foreign workers were hauled off in handcuffs during raids on Monday by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Trainer Craig McPherson lost one of his grooms from Mexico, a skilled worker named David.
“He’s been with me five years, he’s on the payroll, he pays taxes. You’d be hard-pressed to find a nicer, humbler guy,” said McPherson. “It’s heartbreaking to think they led him out in handcuffs like a criminal.”
McPherson said he has been trying, without luck, to contact David. “People are in shock. These are not criminals.”
McPherson was particularly appalled by the manner in which the raid “went down.”
“I love David and it brings tears to my eyes to think about how he was treated.”
Like most seasonal workers at Hastings, David arrives in February when preparations for the racing season begin, and returns to Mexico in the winter.
“All my employees make the same wage for the same job. They are getting paid fair wages. But you can’t find people to work these seasonal jobs in Vancouver,” said McPherson, who trains horses for several owners at Hastings Racecourse.
He described David as a kind, conscientious father who loves the horses, stakes winner Day Raider especially.
“David comes every year for the season, and he tells me he’s here to do the work, and help his family back home,” said McPherson.
McPherson said trainers, not owners, hire the staff that take care of the horses — the exercisers, hotwalkers, stablehands and grooms, like David, who rise at 4 a.m. every day to care for their horses.
Backstretch workers are not employees of Hastings Racecourse or Great Canadian Casino, and must apply for a licence from the B.C. Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, the province’s governing body, in order to work in the secured area where the horses are kept. The gaming branch would, presumably, also ensure the workers they license, have their necessary paperwork.
A representative from the gaming branch said they couldn’t comment on an “internal investigation,” and referred Postmedia to the ministry of the attorney-general. Ryan Panton, a public affairs officer for the ministry, did not respond to questions from Postmedia before deadline.
“David was licensed. I issue him a T4 every year and (a record of employment). He’s not here working on the sly,” said McPherson.
The work is seasonal, the hours are long, it requires an ability to work with horses, and it’s difficult to get skilled local employees to care for the approximately 500 horses housed at the site, said McPherson. Approximately 400 workers are on site in the backstretch daily, of whom 75 per cent are seasonal.
Farrier Maciej Rotecki said some workers fled during the early dawn raids, and others found refuge hiding in stalls with the horses they care for.
Rotecki said it would have been dangerous for the officers to try to get past the horses to search the barns. “Those officers with all that body armour, the horses don’t like them,” said Rotecki.
Rotecki said one worker who had hold of a horse when officers showed up had to choose between saving himself or saving the horse. If he had abandoned the horse, the animal could have spooked and been injured.
“He was loyal to the horse and didn’t run,” said Rotecki. “Can you imagine? He had to choose.”
Rotecki said a trainer he works with lost three grooms, and he lost two stable hands.
Another trainer, Brian O’Connell, didn’t lose any workers, but said border services agents “harassed everyone with brown skin,” including some Canadians.
“This isn’t the United States. I’m ashamed to be Canadian today. It could have been handled differently.”
O’Connell said he heard that some people had paid $700 to have someone fill out the paperwork and get them licensed by the gaming branch. “Now, apparently, they took those people away.”
Angel, a 24-year-old stablehand from Mexico, confirmed that he had paid a $700 fee. Angel escaped the raids, but agreed to turn himself in on Tuesday after border agents contacted the trainer he works for.
“I am so scared,” said Angel, who spoke to Postmedia on the condition of anonymity.
Angel (not his real name) said he paid $700 to someone in two cash payments of $350 each. He was promised that a lawyer would take care of his working papers and he was eventually provided a licence so he could work.
“I thought (the person) did all the paperwork for me,” said Angel.
This is the second season Angel has come to work on the backstretch at Hastings Racecourse. He told Postmedia he paid the same person to secure his working papers and his licence last year.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
