COMMENTARY: Community demands Medicare for all as seasonal worker faces cervical cancer without coverage

Editor’s note: Kerian Burnett became sick with cancer while working in Canada, yet she cannot access public health care. She’s in Nova Scotia, but this kind of situation could happen almost anywhere in the country. Here in New Brunswick, temporary foreign workers are only eligible to apply for health care if they can prove they will be in the province for 12 months, according to the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre. Many temporary foreign workers hold six to ten-month work permits and therefore cannot access public health care. The NB Media Co-op stands with No One Is Illegal-NS in calling for change. 

On May 15, 2023, dozens of community members attended “Cards for Kerian,” an event in Halifax aimed at showing support for migrant Kerian Burnett and calling on the province to provide her with health care coverage. 

Community members created Get Well Soon cards for Kerian, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September 2022 while working as a migrant worker in Nova Scotia. Kerian has been hospitalized since February 2023. 

Imagine having life-threatening cancer, losing your job, and being far away from home without your family, and then having to navigate those circumstances without health care coverage. It’s an undue stress that no one should ever have to face. 

This is not an individual situation that Kerian has to deal with alone. This is a collective responsibility, where we need to advocate and support Kerian and others like her.

The event took place the day after Mother’s Day in support of Kerian, who is currently separated from her six children and two grandchildren. Kerian came to Nova Scotia through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), which does not permit workers to bring their families with them. 

After Kerian became ill, her employment and private health insurance were terminated, leaving her without health care coverage. 

Public health care coverage for migrant workers varies province-to-province. In Nova Scotia, migrant workers must have a one-year work permit to be eligible for public health care. 

This means that SAWP workers are ineligible because their contracts last up to eight months of the calendar year. In provinces like Quebec and Ontario, SAWP workers are eligible for public health care coverage on arrival. 

Twenty-six Nova Scotia based organizations, including No One Is Illegal – Nova Scotia (NOII-NS), are calling for MSI coverage for Kerian, and all other migrant workers entering the province. 

Stacey Gomez is Manager of No One Is Illegal–Nova Scotia’s migrant worker program.