Fundraising is in full stride in aid of about 135 workers who lost their jobs when the Sunterra Meats plant at Trochu caught fire on June 17.
Sunterra Meats President Ray Price confirmed late in July that the fire broke out inside the plant toward the end of the day, when most people had finished their shifts. The few who had remained inside escaped safely with no injuries reported, said Price, a senior member of Sunterra’s founding family.
The origins and cause of the fire are still not known, nor are company officials able to say when they will be able to rebuild and reopen. There were 600 carcasses from the day’s production on the rail at the time of the fire. All were destroyed, said Price.
Live hogs slated for processing in Trochu can be diverted to other plants, he said. The number of animals processed there varies from day to day. Price declined to offer details on his production numbers. He said most of the animals from Sunterra operations are shipped to the United States for feeding and finishing, with hogs for the Trochu plant sourced from a number of other farms.
While the company deals with its own crisis, the community has rallied behind the workers, most of whom are on work permits under Canada’s temporary foreign workers program. Late in the afternoon of July 25, Mayor Barry Kletke announced that a gift of $27,000 from Brandt Tractor Ltd. had pushed the total monies received to nearly $90,000. The community had raised about $37,000 and the Mount Olive Church had collected an additional $32,000, said the mayor.
“The workers are a very important part of our economic driver in our community,” said Kletke.
The workers represent a significant share of Trochu’s population of 1,100 plus people.
“A lot of them have been here for 15 to17 years or are permanent residents. They’re part of our community and love being here. It gets tougher with the temporary foreign workers and whether (they have) an open or closed permit,” he said.
Those who are on an open permit have some flexibility in terms of where they can work. Restrictions are tighter on those who have closed permits.
Kletke said he became alarmed and is developing a plan of attack after learning that temporary foreign workers must pay employment insurance but are not eligible to collect benefits if something happens to their jobs.
Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek, based in Camrose, is aware of the issue, said Kletke. However, Kurek has only limited ability to promote change because he sits in opposition as a Conservative, he said.
While it has been tough slogging, the entire community is determined to offer whatever resources they can to help the displaced workers.
“We’re trying to help people out with some type of assistance, whether it’s a rent that they’re paying or mortgage,” said Kletke.
“We’ve had large contributions to the food bank also. So, the food bank is sitting on quite a bit of money, and it’s been getting very, very taxed. We put the call out to the community for people to step up and help the food bank deliver the hampers because it was too much for the three people that normally do it.
“We’re doing everything in our power to make sure that we’re keeping people’s bellies full and doing everything in our power to make sure that people have some cash to help out with their rents. We did find a rent assistance program through one of the housing foundations down in Drumheller. Some of the families or workers will be able to apply for that, but again, it’s just short term.”
Kletke said local landlords have offered to subsidize rents, but that offer cannot hold up over the long term. He speculated that it could be a year before Sunterra is able to finish construction and reopen.
Sunterra has offered work where it is able, but workers who accept those positions will have to move, said Price.
Olymel in Red Deer and some other processors have offered to take some of the workers, said Kletke. Local businesses have also hired some to work in labour positions such as grounds-keeping, he said.
All of those who came to Sunterra on temporary permits hope to become permanent residents, said Kletke. They came to Trochu from all over the world, including Cameroon, Ukraine, Mexico and the Philippines.
“I think we’re going to be able to look after the majority of the people,” he said.
“I do believe that our temporary foreign workers will be able to continue to work towards their Canadian permanent residency.”
As of press time, Prairie Hog Country was unable to confirm details from a fire in mid-June at an Olymel barn near Lomond, east of Calgary. A third-party source advised that a barn housing between 2,600 and 3,000 sows was destroyed, while iso-wean units on the same lot were spared.
Casey Smit, Saskatchewan-based production manager for Olymel, had not responded to phone messages by press time. •
— By Brenda Kossowan