Eustace Orleans-Lindsay is a very busy man.
Scheduling time to speak with the Simcoe pharmacist proved to be a task on its own with his busy work schedule, meetings, and other professional activities he had on his agenda.
But even with this busy schedule, he is known as a man who tries to help the migrant community and raised his voice loud last year when he say these workers being dragged through the mud by certain members of the community.
Orleans-Lindsay was born and raised in Ghana, before moving to Canada back in 2002.
He was a pharmacist in his West Africa home, and upon arriving in Canada did all the required steps to get his license in the country – which ended up being a 2-year journey.
Many will know him as the Managing Pharmacist at the Real Canadian Superstore, where he has held the post since 2009.
While that portion of his life has changed due to the pandemic, ensuring his team is safe and working on ways to roll out programs like the flu shot with COVID-19, perhaps the biggest change in his life in recent years has been his voice for the migrant community in the area.
He said after moving to Norfolk, it didn’t take long before he noticed the strong presence of migrant workers in the area during the summer, and ultimately joined a committee intending to help out and work with migrant workers.
Last year, his capacity in this role changed substantially as he was the lead voice out ahead of damaging rhetoric and stories being spread in the community regarding migrant workers and an unfounded fear that the men and women were bringing the virus into the community.
He stepped out of his normal role of quietly helping people in the community, to advocating media outlets and other groups about the damage of these stories going around and the impact it had on migrant workers.
He says these workers are critical for our food security, and they were just as likely to contract the virus as anyone else who followed all the safety protocols, and should not be treated differently.
He also helped work with migrant workers as a large outbreak was declared at a farm last year, ultimately taking a man’s life.
With that, Orleans-Lindsay says that previous rhetoric is not a reflection on the community as a whole as many people have done things to welcome migrant workers to the area – pointing out the FARMS soccer tournament as a great example.
He is hopeful that moving forward, these men and women are continued to be treated well and will continue to work closely with this group of essential workers moving forward.