VII.  THE PORTUGUESE: 1955 - 1960s

In the 1950s, fruit growers were facing a serious shortage of labour to help harvest the crops. The problem had been serious for many years. In late October of 1955, the Osoyoos Co-op Packinghouse suspended packing operations for two days to help farmers out of an apple picking emergency described as a combination of picker shortage and apple drop. Also released from their normal activities were students attending South Okanagan Junior-Senior High School. Classes were cancelled so they could pick apples ("Picking Emergency," 1955).

At the B.C. Fruit Growers' Association annual convention held in 1957 a resolution was adopted requesting workers from Mexico or the Philippines. It read:

Whereas there is a general shortage of agricultural labour throughout Canada, and Whereas in this past year of light crop the National Employment Service could not provide us with sufficient labour for orchard employment, and Whereas Boards of Trade and School Boards who have assisted at the harvest season for years past now are becoming reluctant to. Therefore be it resolved by this 1957 B.C.F.G.A. Annual Convention that the Provincial Department of Agriculture be requested to explore the possibilities of bringing into the province labour from Mexico or the Philippines for seasonal agricultural employment, to be moved to various parts of the province as required, and with the understanding that they will be returned to their country of origin at the end of the crop year. (B.C.F.G.A., 1957, p.30)

A reporter noted, "it was emphasized the Mexicans would not work in packing-houses". A Westbank grower warned, "Growers must expect 'a lot of trouble ' if Mexicans are imported" ("Grower Wants," 1957).

As Okanagan fruit growers looked for a way out of their dilemma, important events occurred in Eastern Canada which changed the course of history in the Valley. These events were the arrivals of the ships Saturnia and S.S. Hellas in 1953, the Homeland in 1954 and the Rosa Star in 1955, all with Portuguese immigrants aboard (Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p.27). The immigration of the Portuguese was the result of a bilateral agreement between Canada and Portugal. This program was described by the Federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration as follows:

Immigration movements from Portugal for the next few years (1953 onwards) must be studied in light of the then current shortage of heavy manual labour in Canada and persistent pressure from railway construction companies and agricultural groups for immigrant workers, coupled with the decline in immigration from our traditional source countries in 1955 and 1956. (Hawkins, as cited in Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p.17)

In 1954, the program included 700 agricultural workers and 250 tradesmen from the Azores. In 1955, the program consisted of 900 farm labourers and 50 tradesmen from mainland Portugal. It was repeated in 1956 and in 1957 and included 2,000 farm labourers - 1,000 from the Azores and an equal number from the mainland (Hawkins, as cited in Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p. 17).

According to Almeida and Barreto (as cited in Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p. 22) many factors in Portuguese society lead to this emigration, including poor working conditions, poor wages, and unemployment. Higgs (undated) cites the several factors which included poor working conditions, poor wages and unemployment. When this large-scale Portuguese migration to Canada began in the mid-1950's Portugal was largely an agricultural country. The economy of the volcanic islands of the Azores was based on the fishing and dairy industries, and the economy of the Madeiras was based on the production of tropical fruits, fortified wines and handicrafts (Higgs, undated, p. 4). The Azores contributed almost two-third of the Portuguese immigrants to Canada and many of these islanders emigrated because of high population density, low industrial development and subsistence agriculture. According to Dorothy Fraser of Osoyoos, agricultural workers in the Azores earned the equivalent of $100 a year while "a man and a wife working all year might make up to $5,000" in the Valley's orchards, and "they are provided free with a modern furnished house, light and fuel, a vegetable plot, and of course, fruit. They pay income tax and still manage to save two or three thousand dollars, being as yet unseduced by the gadgets of North America" (Fraser, 1964, p. 34).

By 1958 there were serious doubts about the program as the need for unskilled labour in Canada diminished (Hawkins, as cited in Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p. 18). While it lasted, this migration fulfilled Canadian labour market needs and for Portugal it helped relieve social tension and unemployment.

For many Portuguese immigrants in search of a warm North American climate, the Okanagan was considered second only to California. Since the beginning of the century, Portuguese had been migrating to California to work in the fruit industries, but entry restrictions into the United States and Canada's open immigration policy persuaded many of them to settle in the Okanagan (Norris, 1971, p. 149).

The Early Migrants and Their Work on Canadian Farms

The first Portuguese workers were sent to Okanagan farms in 1955 to alleviate a shortage of hired help, especially at harvest (Anderson & Higgs, 1976, p. 116). According to some Portuguese residents who remained in the Okanagan, the first group of Portuguese arrived in the Oliver-Osoyoos area on April 7, 1955. Among them were Joe Da Costa and Alberto Farinha, who worked for orchardist Jack Thorpe and vegetable farmer Fred Hack for 50 cents an hour ("Portuguese Success Built", 1981). Da Costa had worked on a family farm in Portugal, harvesting olives, figs, grapes, potatoes, beans and corn until he was 24 years of age. Da Costa recalls: "Agriculture was bad in Portugal. In the '50s, we were still suffering from the war" (Da Costa, personal communication, February 12, 1986). He left his homeland on March 27, 1955 and arrived in Halifax on April 2. After a cross country trip by rail he worked his first month for vegetable farmer Louis Hack alongside some Dutch people. Subsequently he took different jobs across B.C. and Alaska, and finally returned to Oliver in 1963, where he bought a farm: "I own a piece of land on #13 Road. Maybe I will retire there and grow alfalfa" (Da Costa, personal communication, February 12, 1986).

In an interview with the Oliver Chronicle in 1981, members of the Portuguese Club describe the living conditions of the first Portuguese:

Living conditions those first years were stark..., a one-room cabin with a wood stove and no running water. For transportation, they relied on legs because no one could afford a car. They conversed with their new friends and neighbours with the aid of a Portuguese-English dictionary. ("Portuguese Success Built," 1981).

Marques and Medeiros (1978) relate the personal experiences of Portuguese who came to work in Canada in the 1950s. Among them was Antonio Leandres, a Portuguese immigrant who landed in Vancouver in 1957 with a contract to work on the railroad. He quit after three months, unhappy with the wages of 85 cents an hour, and went to work in the Okanagan:

One fellow, a schoolmate of mine, wrote to me from a farm in Penticton asking how I was. Of course, I complained. I said I was fed up with working 80 hours in the rain and getting so little money. He invited me to join him and I did so without stopping to think, but when I got there I found him thin and sad and alone in the wilderness. And I realized immediately that I had been much better off on the railroad. But it was too late to go back. (Marques & Medeiros, 1978, p. 77)

Another Portuguese migrant is remembered for his tenacity and ingenuity. Once he had learned to prune, he had a card printed with the inscription: "Do you need any help for pruning?" New to the country and speaking scarcely two words of English, he went door to door by himself, politely showing the card until he got work (Fraser, 1964, p. 35). In a 1979 interview with the Osoyoos Times, Jose Martins also recalled the early days:

Those people working in the orchards and farms over the summer had to make enough money to last through the winter. After the season ended, there were no jobs available to those people.

During the winter, card games in different homes of Portuguese residents were a common occurrence. A wood stove would provide heat for the one or two room shacks the European settlers first stayed in. ("Times Were Hard," 1979)

Martins recalled that pickers were paid 10 cents for each box of fruit they harvested, with most workers able to pick between 80 and 100 boxes per day. Martins bought an orchard in 1967 after working in the area for many years. He had immigrated to Canada in May, 1957 and worked on an Ontario tobacco farm for one and a half months before moving to Osoyoos on the advice of a friend:

A local resident named Tony Braz wrote me that I could make $10 a day working on an alternating basis by picking and thinning fruit and working on the vegetable farms. This is the reason I moved to Osoyoos because I was only making $4 a day on the tobacco farm. ("Times Were Hard," 1979)

In their book, A Future to Inherit: The Portuguese Communities of Canada , Anderson and Higgs (1976) described one of the early settlers.

He was one of the very first settlers who came to work for Louis Hart, who owned extensive orchards. As he became established, he brought many members of his extended family to the Valley. (p. 118)

In 1956 the first large group of Portuguese came out from the Azores to work in the orchards. Growers agreed to house them, pay a certain wage for so many months. Over the years more groups came from the Azores and Portugal. They liked the life here so they brought over their wives and families. ("Orchards Have Modernized," 1981)

In 1964, a crew from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) filmed a documentary on Portuguese settlers in the Oliver area. A CBC spokesperson said available information showed between 300 and 500 Portuguese had settled in the area and he concluded: "They are a very friendly and hospitable people who have integrated into the community without any great difficulty" ("CBC Camera Films," 1964).

Farmworkers Buying the Farms

After several years as farm workers, many Portuguese bought small farm acreages. Jose Martins recalls buying the Walter Cardston orchard in 1967. "It took nine years of working in the orchards of other people and saving the money before I could buy a farm" ("Times Were Hard," 1979).

Under what conditions and circumstances did the Portuguese purchase orchard in the Osoyoos area? Anderson and Higgs explain:

In the early 1960's, many farms were falling into disrepair because of the problems of attracting suitable day labour to the region for the harvest season. The area was at that time worked by people of British, German or Hungarian back-ground. When the Portuguese entered the region in sizeable numbers in the 1960's, they purchased the farms which were uneconomical for other groups to run. (Anderson & Higgs, 1976, p.119)

Twenty years after their first farm purchase, the Portuguese are well integrated into the community life of the South Okanagan. In 1976, it was estimated that 600 to 1,200 Portuguese lived in Oliver and Osoyoos, which had a total population of 8,415. In 1987, the Portuguese owned approximately 200 out of the 643 commercial farms in the area (Koroscil, 1987, p. 44, 46).

John Garcia recalls the only time he heard a negative comment about the Portuguese:

I was buying something at a store and a guy said: 'These Portuguese are buying up all the farms around.' His friend answered: 'Well, if you had worked your farm instead of hiring Portuguese, you wouldn't have to complain now. They worked to gather your savings and with your savings, they bought some farms.' I laughed and I left. (Garcia, 1986, personal communication)

As Jose Martins says:

The Portuguese people have made an important contribution to the fruit industry of the area and both myself and the rest of my family are happy to be living in Canada. We felt bad about leaving Portugal for the first two years of living in Canada but over the years you like it more here and you forget more about your home country. Most of the Portuguese immigrants stay here and never go back to Portugal. ("Times Were Hard," 1979)

ETHNIC AGRICULTURAL LABOUR
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