Dhalla nanny affair should prompt assessment Live-in Caregiver Program
May 8, 2009
Georgia Straight
By Carlito Pablo

Hetty Alcuitas, a spokesperson for the Vancouver-based Philippine Women Centre, was hardly surprised when news broke that two Filipino nannies were allegedly mistreated by Ruby Dhalla, Liberal MP in the Ontario riding … and her family.

Alcuitas told the Straight that for many years the centre has documented cases of abuse suffered by mostly women from the Philippines who come to Canada under the (LCP). She said that the most common complaints she has heard from caregivers are having to work long hours and being denied overtime pay.

For Alcuitas, cases such as the Dhalla nanny affair should prompt an assessment of the basic features of the LCP. It’s more than a question of having bad and good employers, she said.

According to Alcuitas, these four features of the program make women vulnerable to exploitation:

Live-in requirement: Under the program, caregivers must live in the house of their employers, a condition that in many instances can lead to nannies working extended hours.

Temporary status of caregivers: Nannies arrive in Canada with a temporary work permit and are faced with the threat of being ordered to leave. Many keep silent if they are mistreated.

Employer-specific permits: The work papers of caregivers provide that they shall work only for a specific employer. Changing employers requires a lot of paper work.

The 24-month requirement: Nannies must be able to work as caregivers for a total of two years within the three years that they are permitted to stay in Canada. If they don’t meet this requirement, they can be deported. This is a reason why many nannies stay with abusive employers….

Jane Ordinario is a spokesperson of a relatively new Filipino migrant organization, Migrante B.C. In a phone interview with the Straight, Ordinario said that in addition to the LCP’s shortcomings, there is no monitoring mechanism to check on the status of people hired under the program.