Jason and Ruby and Nanny Troubles

At 1620 this afternoon, Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla's Nanny Trouble was the most read story at the Toronto Star's Web site. Reporter Dale Brazao finds that “two caregivers say they were mistreated after MP hired them. Dhalla says she is 'appalled' by their accusations.”

After Question Period today, in a scrum with several reporters, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney spends quite a bit of time not commenting on this case:

Reporter: So what should be done about these allegations?

Kenney: Well, it's difficult for me to comment on particular cases but we're aware of stories of abuse of the rights of live-in caregivers that are very disturbing. These are typically vulnerable workers. It's a very valuable program and provides a pathway to permanent residency within three years for thousands of women who otherwise would have a real hard time coming to Canada. So we think it's a good program but it needs to be improved. And I'm working with provinces, encouraging them to ensure the proper monitoring and enforcement of provincial Labour Code protections for live-in caregivers. And at the federal level we have launched consultations with caregivers and other stakeholders, including employers, to hear how we can better ensure their protection. We're looking at the role of intermediaries, of recruiting agencies. We are looking at the sanctions that are imposed. For instance, if we hear about – if we have reports of employers who are repeat abusers of the rules, we're looking at making it impossible for them to get future labour market opinions for additional caregivers in the future. And so we're basically open-minded about how we can improve the program to prevent abuse because one thing is clear : taking away someone's passport, requiring them to do work that's outside the terms of the caregiver status, not processing the work – having people work as a caregiver without a work permit, paying people under the table without takes, these – the accusations this happens on a fairly widespread basis. I think most employers are very dutiful and very good honest employers but we want to crack down on the abusive cases for sure.

Reporter: Is your department going to launch an investigation based on what you've heard?

Kenney: Well, to the best of my knowledge – I don't comment on particular cases so I can't really say. . . .

Reporter: The fact that this involves a sitting MP, what do you think should happen next?

Kenney: I'll leave that to the MP in question or her leader. I can't comment on the details of particular cases. That's a matter for that individual but as it relates to the appropriate authorities, if complaints are provided, you know, one question I have is if this information came to light in a public forum, I would hope that any responsible authorities would have notified the appropriate officials. I think these allegations may have been provided two weeks ago to a Minister of Labour in Ontario and I presume that the appropriate authorities were informed.

Reporter: Do you have to rely on a complaint in order to launch an investigation? So you won't necessarily investigate until you see that complaint?

Kenney: Well, you know, I think it's – that's up to officials. We don't want to politicize the complaints process and whether or not our officials have taken public reports into account, I'm not aware and I should probably not be asking questions of that nature because we want to ensure that any process is fair and not politicized. I'm just commenting on the broader issue here. We're aware of these instances of abuse and we're concerned and that's why we've launched these consultations and plan to tighten up the regulations surrounding the live-in caregiver program.