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A new Parkland Institute report blames Alberta's COVID-19 response for the Cargill plant outbreak that killed six workers and infected more than 950, and calls for a public apology among 36 recommendations.
The COVID-19 outbreak at the Cargill plant in High River, Alta. , which ultimately led to the deaths of six people, is being labelled a catastrophic failure by the province in a new report.
The Parkland Institute, a research centre at the University of Alberta, published the report. It examined how Alberta handled a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than 950 workers at the plant contracted the illness. The report is dedicated to 67-year-old Bui Thi Hiep and 51-year-old Benito Quesada. Both worked at the plant and died because of the outbreak.
Catastrophic Failure to Prioritize Safety
In 2020, both lost their lives to COVID-19 and, ultimately, to Alberta's catastrophic failure to place worker safety above industry interests, the report read. Dozens of workers also ended up in hospital due to the outbreak, the report found. It also explores how and why the outbreak occurred and what can be done to prevent similar incidents in the future. The report calls the outbreak at the meat-processing plant a forgotten tragedy.
It notes that neither the Government of Alberta's pandemic review panel report in 2023 nor Alberta Health Services' internal review in 2022 made any mention of the tragedy. Further, no charges were brought under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act or as a result of a separate RCMP criminal investigation. The report also places blame on Alberta's minister of agriculture and forestry at the time, Devin Dreeshen.
Essential Service Designations Exempted Rules
The report says he gave assurances that meat-processing plants would be declared essential services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A formal designation, with no basis in law, followed, making these essential industries exempt from any public health measures related to gathering sizes, physical distancing and, importantly, temporary closure orders, the report read. To help incentivize workers to take shifts, a one-time $500 attendance bonus and a $2 hourly wage top-up were offered during the beginning of the pandemic.
There was nothing inevitable about the scale of the outbreak, says Sean Tucker, lead author of the new report from the Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta. A public apology to Cargill workers and their families is one of the 36 main recommendations in the report. It also calls for Alberta's health agencies and OHS to adopt the precautionary principle when responding to new respiratory illnesses.
Worker Safety Secondary to Production
The report's findings add to broader scrutiny of how the province balanced public health protections with the needs of essential industries during the pandemic. It points to a pattern in which worker safety was treated as secondary to keeping meat production running. The document argues that exemptions from public health rules created conditions that allowed the virus to spread rapidly through the plant and into surrounding communities.
Among the report's other recommendations are calls for stronger enforcement of occupational health rules, clearer protocols for future outbreaks and greater transparency from provincial agencies. The authors say the province should review how essential service designations are made so that they do not override health protections. They also argue that workers should have a stronger voice in decisions that affect their safety on the job.
Lack of Accountability Leaves Families without Closure
The Parkland Institute report is the latest in a series of reviews and investigations that have examined the Cargill outbreak. None of those earlier reviews, however, resulted in charges or formal findings of responsibility. The report says the lack of accountability has left workers and their families without closure. CTV News has reached out to the province and Cargill for comment but has yet to hear back.
The report's authors say they hope the findings will prompt action from the government and the company. They say the recommendations are meant to ensure that a similar tragedy does not happen again.
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CTVToronto:New report calls Alberta’s response to Cargill plant COVID-19 outbreak a ‘catastrophic failure’This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Parkland Institute Report Alberta Worker Safety High River Meat Plant Devin Dreeshen
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