[BRIEF NOTE] On the Dhalla scandal

[rfmcdonald]

Toronto-area Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla (official website, Wikipedia) has recently gotten herself involved in quite a scandal as a result of allegations that she abused two foreign caregivers, recruited under Canada's live-in caregiver program, by forcing them to do housework, janitorial work at the family's chiropractic clinic, and other non-caregiver related jobs--that, and confiscating their identity documents. The two caregivers and Dhalla have given opposing testimonies at a recent parliamentary inquiry.

Members of a parliamentary committee in Ottawa heard conflicting and often emotional testimony on Tuesday from Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla and two foreign caregivers who say she hired them to work at her family's house.

Magdalene Gordo, 31, and Richelyn Tongson, 37, testified via videoconference from Toronto. The two women of Philippine origin said Dhalla interviewed and hired them to care for her mother in Dhalla's family home in Mississauga, Ont.

They alleged she forced them to work long hours doing household chores (including shovelling snow and cleaning family-owned chiropractic clinics) and held on to their passports — all in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that lasted from February to May 2008.

"I was mentally tortured and physically stressed," Gordo testified, saying she worked from 7:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. each day on "various household chores, not caregiving jobs. … You're being insulted. They show you were a slave. They do not show you love and compassion."

Tongson said she had handed over her birth certificate, marriage certificate and passport to Dhalla.

"I asked [her] for my documents every Thursday night," she told the committee. "I didn't know if she would deport me."

Tongson broke down sobbing, prompting a short recess, as she described that she had four children to support in the Philippines and did not want to be deported.
MP says staff treated with 'love, care and respect'

Immediately following the testimony by the women, Dhalla appeared before the committee with her lawyer at her side, calling their accusations "false and unsubstantiated."

"I, Ruby Dhalla, did not employ Magdalene Gordo or Richelyn Tongson," she said. "I, Ruby Dhalla, did not sponsor Magdalene or Richelyn. I don't know what their motive is, but I do want to tell all of you today that I have nothing to hide, and I have done nothing wrong."

Dhalla said her brother, Neil Dhalla, was responsible for hiring and managing the women — but Gordo refuted this.

Neil Dhalla "was never involved in interviewing me, orienting me in the job responsibilities, nor supervising me," Gordo said. "He never introduced himself as my employer. He did not discuss employment issues with me."

Other than him showing her how he wanted his shoes shined, his suits prepared and his car vacuumed, she had no interaction with him, she said.

This scandal has gotten embedded in the increasingly bitter politics in Ottawa, with party leader Michael Ignatieff standing by Dhalla amid allegations that Dhalla, until recently the Liberals' immigration critic, has been targeted by the Conservative government--the controversy is certainly ongoing. I don't know the truth of what happened, and I likely never will. It does strike me as odd, though, as it did when I heard Dhalla's address on CBC Radio, that she began not by denying the accusations but rather by disavowing all responsibility for the caregivers. That strikes me as off, suspiciously so.