Front Burner - Her father died from COVID-19, and now the RCMP are investigating

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

Last Friday, 16-year-old Ariana Quesada walked into an RCMP station in High River, Alta., to file a formal complaint about the death of her father, Benito, who died eight months ago of COVID-19. He worked at the Cargill meat-packing plant, home to the largest coronavirus outbreak in the country, with at least 950 staff members contracting it last spring. The RCMP have now opened an investigation into Benito Quesada's death. Today, CBC investigative reporter Dave Seglins on Benito's story and larger questions about corporate responsibility in a global pandemic.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Last Friday, 16-year-old Ariana Quesada walked into an RCMP station in High River, Alberta. We have just, with the help of the union, we have filed a complaint regarding labour law and the criminal code to finally bring justice to my dad,

the justice that he deserves. It was very emotional. It's very hard because I would never have imagined myself being here. It's nothing that I ever saw myself doing. She wanted justice for her father, Benito, who died of COVID-19 eight months ago. He worked at the Cargill Meatpacking Plant, home to the largest coronavirus outbreak in the country. Today, CBC investigative reporter Dave Seglands on Benito's story and larger questions about corporate responsibility

in a global pandemic. I'm Jamie Poisson and this is FrontBurner. I'm Jamie Poisson and this is FrontBurner. Hi Dave, thanks so much for being here. Hi there. So it strikes me that this is a lot for a 16-year-old to take on here. And can you tell me a little bit about Ariana? Well, you're right. At 16, she's really been thrust into a position of responsibility.

She is the eldest of four children to Benito and his wife. My dad was a very selfless and caring person. He always asked about our day, even when he was tired from work. We love him very much. And so knowing we'll never see him again is what has broken us and what has made it so hard for us to keep going. We feel his absence every day. Their family is originally from Mexico. Benito came up to Canada, got a job at Cargill back in 2007,

and was sort of apart from the family until they had the means and made the decision in 2012 to move to Canada, working at the High River Cargill plant and raising a family. His job at Cargill meant sacrifice. He worked there for 13 years. He would work overtime and would sleep four hours a day if he was lucky. His job at Cargill meant spending less time with us, but he loved knowing that he would be able to buy us things that he did not have growing up. To him, it was a privilege. For Ariana, her mother doesn't, she's fully Spanish, doesn't speak strong English. So Ariana at 16 has become like the spokesperson for the family. And so when it came time to filing a police complaint, it was Ariana who walked into that

police station and signed her name to ask them to investigate. They prioritized profit over lives, and this is how it ended. This was the result. Cargill, even though it's worth millions and billions of dollars, it's not exempt from the law. They do not get to, they have to be held to the same moral standard

that everyone else is held against. Right. And I want to get to that complaint in a moment. But first, can you tell me a little bit about what happened to Benito when the COVID outbreak started at Cargill? Well, Benito was reporting into shifts like anyone else. You know, he too and his family were hearing about the threat and the risks and the state of emergency in Alberta that was declared. I also want to be clear about what will not be impacted by these measures. This order will not apply to health care facilities, to grocery stores. Right from the get-go, the plant was, as a food service, was deemed essential.

The plant is a major, major producer of processed meats for across Canada. So given its scale, given its vital role in the food supply chain, this plant stayed open and workers, despite their fears, they kept reporting in. Benito kept reporting in, but anxiety by the end of March was really rising. By early April, there were not just a few cases. Cargill has told the union that 38 people who work in the High River plant have tested positive for COVID-19. And Benito, unfortunately, got sick. He was hospitalized right in mid-April. And he was very quickly in an ICU. The family

wasn't allowed to come in and see him and he was in an induced coma and he died on May the 7th. We live the same day every single day knowing what happened and the people that did it are living their lives. I spent Christmas with one less person to hug. And all the executives and general managers, everyone at Cargill got to spend Christmas with their loved ones, and I did not get that. I feel very deprived. I feel robbed. I feel robbed. I understand Benito was one of three people who died during the Cargill outbreak, and this is what brought Ariana to the RCMP station on Friday.

I understand that the local union that Benito was a shop steward for has given the family a lot of support. And when Ariana walked into the RCMP station, what was she armed with? She was armed with a document that laid out the state of law, laying out the obligations of employers, but also very specific allegations leveled at Cargill. She's asked the RCMP, and the RCMP have now launched an investigation, asked them to look at potential criminal negligence. And the basis for that is allegations that the company didn't ensure all workers had proper PPE, that the production lines weren't adjusted enough, people couldn't remain physically distant, that there was lunchroom, people were elbow to elbow. So despite everything that was being said by public health authorities, the allegation is that the company knew better, should have taken steps, and here

workers were being exposed to the virus. But more than that, here are some things that I found really extraordinary. The criminal complaint, this is not tested in court, but the allegation is by the Cassetta family that there were company nurses who were approving workers to come to work despite having symptoms. And in two cases that CBC has heard about, but is documented in the complaint, people who had positive COVID tests were told they could come to work, allegedly. That's according to this criminal complaint. We don't know if that's true or not. were told they could come to work, allegedly. That's according to this criminal complaint. We don't know if that's true or not. But if it's true, then clearly there's a contravention of what the public health advice was to keep the factory going.

But even more so for Benito, the thing that had him continuing to go into work, as he saw these dozens of cases, he was actually worried at home and he was telling his family, look, you guys stay away from me just as a precaution. I'm going to keep going into the plant. But he had been told, I mean, a number of workers have been told, if you don't report for duty, you're going to be laid off, no pay. So number one, they were going to lose their livelihood. But number two, they were told that if you keep coming into work for the next eight weeks straight, don't miss a shift, you'll make

an extra $500. And for Benito and his family, $500 was enough to say, you know what, I'm going to keep going in and I guess, in a way, test my luck and hopefully not contract the coronavirus. My siblings shouldn't be going through this. My dad was, if he had never worked in Cargill, he would still be here. He dedicated 13 years of his life to that company and they completely disregarded that he ever existed. We need to tell Cargill that we haven't forgotten. We will never forget what you did to us.

The RCMP has launched this investigation, and I understand the complaint is also grounded in this very specific law. And can you tell me about this law? Oh, for sure. So the Westray Law is a law that was brought in in Canada after this mining disaster, 1992 in Nova Scotia. Working conditions underground were more unstable than anyone had projected. So unstable, many workmen were afraid for their lives. This has been described as an act of God.

Act of the devil, maybe. It was never an act of God. God didn't leave that coal dust laying around. The law, finally adopted in 2004, says the following. Under the criminal code, employers in Canada have a duty to take all reasonable steps to protect workers. So criminal negligence with the Westray law provisions, what's being alleged here is that reasonable steps were not taken and that the company was being reckless because counter to

the public health advice that was being given, counter to the information that workers were getting sick, they kept operating. Benito is one of three who died. Don't forget, 950 workers at this plant tested positive and became sick from COVID-19 by early May. That's pretty well half the factory's workforce of 2,000. 1,500 cases were linked to it, the employees and then people around them too. Indeed. And I think to the best of our knowledge, this is the largest, it continues to be the largest single workplace outbreak in all of Canada. Yeah. Wow. I remember the plant was shut down at one point,

right? And remind me when that happened. COVID declared pandemic mid-March. Cargill did start taking some steps. In a statement, Cargill says it's temporarily reducing shifts at the plant starting today. The company says it has also introduced safety measures like temperature testing and enhanced cleaning. But the union was expressing concerns. People started getting sick. Benito winds up in hospital by mid-April. And there are calls by the union to please shut down the plant. I spoke to union president Thomas Hesse on the phone. He says food processing plants are not built around social distancing.

Rather, they're built around the notion of social proximity to be more efficient. Now, a couple of things happened. There are provincial health and safety inspectors that are supposed to be monitoring workplaces, responding to complaints, and issuing orders if there are breakdowns. In Alberta at that time, like across the country, this system was breaking down. People's fear of becoming infected, inspectors weren't going into a lot of these places.

And so the provincial authorities in Alberta conducted a video inspection. In the criminal complaint, Ariane and her family say, look, the managers who were helping guide the inspectors around were not giving a complete picture of what was going on. And then there was a town hall meeting where the agriculture minister and health authorities were all there. And the minister of agriculture is on the record at this town hall around April 18th assuring people that working in the plant was safe. So you've got government officials. You've got inspectors that have at least a video eye into the plant, but none of that shut the plant down. What shut the plant down was Cargill itself taking its own initiative,

and on April 20th, they shut the plant for two weeks. But by then... Workers had been raising alarms for a couple of weeks about conditions at the Cargill plant, saying public health directives were being ignored. These deaths and these illnesses in this community spread, I believe a significant portion of it would not have happened if the province had intervened after we asked them to on Easter Sunday. Hundreds of people were already sick.

You had Benito in hospital, and we know the rest. What does Cargill have to say about the RCMP investigation into what happened to Benito Quesada? First off, they haven't seen the complaint or the paperwork that the Quesada family has submitted to the police. As of the beginning of this week, they hadn't been contacted by police. They have issued a number of statements throughout all of this responding to pieces hadn't been contacted by police. They have issued a number of statements throughout all of this responding to pieces of these allegations in other contexts. Don't forget there's a lawsuit, a proposed class action suit, and they emphasize their safety record, their commitment and culture towards safety, they insist. But the reality is these are untested

allegations. They haven't even been investigated, let alone the question of whether they would result in charges. None of this has been tested in court. So we have to leave it at the level of allegations for now as the Mounties begin their research, their investigation into what is no doubt, as they've acknowledged, going to be a very complex investigation. You mentioned the class action lawsuit. This is actually a lawsuit on behalf of individuals who had close contact with Cargill employees, right? Not the employees themselves? either multi-generational or multi-family households. They are often immigrant families, lower income. And so tons of people tied to this workplace outbreak became infected in the community.

And so the outbreak was much larger and had on a much greater magnitude. So quite right, that lawsuit is on behalf of people who didn't work at the plant, but were, they allege, exposed as a result of the actions and failures that occurred at the plant. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. investment and industry connections. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen

to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. So I want to spend some time today talking about the national implications here with you. This was the largest known workplace outbreak in Canada, like you've mentioned, but there have been many workplace outbreaks across the country, several leading to deaths. And what have you found? Well, we began looking at workplace COVID deaths. As we've known in many stories throughout this pandemic, Canada's data system tracking things is poor. So we don't have complete data, but from workers' compensation bodies across each province, we know that there are at least 33 deaths tied to workplaces from COVID-19 that have been accepted as workplace deaths by workers'

compensation boards. So that's number one. It gives you a scale of at least how many have gone that far. Now, the number of cases of deaths is probably much higher, given that not everything gets reported, not every workplace is covered by provincial workers' comp. And we found three cases of workplace deaths where there actually were also complaints to police. So beyond relying on provincial authorities, which a lot of experts that we've talked to say, look, the provincial inspection systems broke down. Inspectors weren't getting into work sites across Canada to do their work to ensure health and safety. We found three cases where complaints were filed to police. This is tied to three women, separate workers, separate long-term care facilities, or one worked at the Victorian Order of Nurses in Peel Region doing home care.

All three personal support workers got COVID, tied to their work, became sick, died. Their union has gone to police in Toronto and Peel, asking them similarly conduct a criminal negligence investigation, invoking the Westray law and saying, look, these employers failed to provide PPE, failed to learn the lessons of the SARS outbreak that was deadly in the Toronto region back in 2003, failed to follow the public inquiry recommendations that came out of there. And as healthcare facilities, they could have foreseen this harm. This is the allegation made to police. But in these instances, police have decided they won't investigate.

They're deferring instead back to the provincial bodies, which had all those problems, you know, getting in and actually monitoring health and safety in the early months of the pandemic. getting in and actually monitoring health and safety in the early months of the pandemic. You mentioned that the police departments in Ontario are not taking up this case. And why are they choosing not to, especially now considering that the RCMP has decided that they will take this up in Alberta? I think there's a couple of things going on here. In Alberta, the magnitude of that outbreak begs some inquiry, I think, just at top level. I can't answer for the police services in Toronto and Peel. What they have said is that they've deferred to coroners and provincial authorities for them to figure out whether it's worthy of investigation. What I can say is in all my work, looking at workplaces and this whole problem with the Westray law, investigating criminal negligence, police have done very few investigations. They've been reluctant to go into work sites in part because they're complex cases. In part, it's not immediately obvious.

I mean, a lot of experts would say, look, police go into a potential crime scene and they look for a smoking gun, a criminal, somebody with the intent to cause harm. Well, that's not usually what's happened in a workplace. It's not obvious what the crime is. It's not obvious what the breakdown is, if it's a lax infection control or poor training or a product or a machine that's notorious for its problems. Those things aren't obvious, and it requires a lot of investigation, which police haven't done a lot of. There have only been six guilty pleas and convictions. pleas and convictions. And through our work over the past year, police and justice officials have acknowledged they haven't done a good enough job, there hasn't been enough coordination, and they are actually stepping up and commencing this year new online training for police forces so that when they come across a workplace catastrophe like a Cargill, you know, like a Westray mine, somewhere where people are getting hurt or even die related to their job, the police have a better sense of being able to tackle it. And I'll say one other thing too, is that COVID is unique. You know, when a mine explodes, it's obvious what's happened.

You know, when a mine explodes, it's obvious what's happened. COVID crept in, people got sick, and even if it was the workplace and failures at the workplace that made them sick, they're often already at home or in a hospital when they die. So it's a bit different than your typical workplace fatality. I can't help but think then about other potential recourses here. If the criminal route seems like there are a lot of hurdles there. The criminal route seems like there are a lot of hurdles there. We mentioned before this class action lawsuit with people close to Cargill workers. But I also can't help but think about this law that Ontario recently passed, a bill that provides liability protections to companies against COVID-19 exposure-related lawsuits. Cerise Latibodiere is a Toronto lawyer who has helped launch a proposed class action

against 96 long-term care homes in the province. What it does essentially is it changes the threshold from the ordinary course of negligence to gross negligence. It's a bigger threshold, a higher threshold for families to prove. And, you know, how realistic are sort of civil routes here? Well, a lot of workplaces are covered by workers' compensation. And so getting money and compensation for loss of limb or a fatality benefit should somebody die, that often involves relinquishing your right to sue.

So yes, the Ontario legislation will prevent other kinds of lawsuits out of trying to protect both the employers but also their insurers. But suing is one avenue. Going to police is another. The provincial inspectors laying complaints there and hoping that that regulatory system can result in fines and charges, which, I mean, a lot of the critics of that system say, look, number one, it was overwhelmed by COVID, but number two, if it's a case of negligence,

the penalties are far less severe and don't land executives in prison for decisions that are made, executives in prison for decisions that are made, whereas the criminal law would. And I guess the other piece of recourse is going to the media. I mean, Arianna not only wanted to file a complaint with the police, but she also wanted it to be known widely in the public, what happened to her father and what she's calling on police to do to look at potential accountability and liability of the company. So I'd say those are the streams for recourse. There was nothing right, nothing right from what they did. This will hopefully make them feel accountable, some sort of remorse, some sort of empathy. make them feel accountable, some sort of remorse, some sort of empathy.

Okay. Dave Zeglitz, thank you so much for this conversation. It feels like such an important issue and I'm so glad that we have finally gotten the chance to talk to you about it. All right. so before we go today, I want to play you a little bit more about what Ariana Quesada had to say after she filed an official complaint with the RCMP. There's not a moment that goes by that we don't think of him. And I want all the people at Cargill, especially the authority figures, every day when they go to work, to think of him every single day because every single day I have to live with the fact that I don't have a dad anymore. I will never forget my dad. My family will never forget him.

And I will make sure that Cargill never forgets him. I will make sure that neglect and my dad's name is always associated with Cargill. All right, that's all for today. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner, and we'll talk to you tomorrow. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.