Ruby Dhalla & Family May Have Kept Slaves
At a public meeting held two weeks ago by provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynne and Labour Minister Peter Fonseca, when asked to freely speak her mind about the Canadian federal Live-In Caregiver Program, nannies Magdalene Gordo, 31, told the ministers that Ruby Dhalla and family had kept her passport, refused to pay her when she quit, forced her to perform non-nanny jobs, and hired them illegally, and that the Dhalla family did not obtain the necessary federal approval under the Live-In Caregiver Program for the women to live and work in their home:
The nannies also allege Dhalla improperly seized their passports and family members forced them to do non-nanny jobs such as washing cars, shining shoes and cleaning family-owned chiropractic clinics.
Magdalene Gordo, 31, and Richelyn Tongson, 37, say they were hired by Dhalla to work at the family home in Mississauga and routinely toiled five days a week, earning $250 a week while working 12- to 16-hour days.
The nannies were hired in early 2008 to care for Tavinder Dhalla, Ruby’s mother. According to an application submitted to Service Canada for hiring the second nanny, Ruby’s brother, Neil Dhalla, said Tavinder has “a disability which makes it difficult for her to walk and stand for long periods.” Preliminary approval documents did not arrive until after the nanny quit.
Both nannies say Tavinder appeared quite healthy, but had a foot problem that required massaging late in the evening. They claimed that, beyond providing morning and nightly tea for Tavinder, most jobs were cleaning-related, either in the house, outside or in chiropractic clinics owned by the family.
Nanny advocates say these jobs fall outside the federal guidelines for caregivers hired under the program. “Her mother had had me shovelling snow at midnight,” said Gordo. “She wanted a slave, not a caregiver.”
The Dhalla family deny everything the nannies have accused them of, but it warrants the question: Why the hell would the nannies lie about this? If Ruby Dhalla is correct and the Dhalla family treated the nannies, as Ruby Dhalla says in the article, “with a lot of love, with a lot of care and compassion”, then it really is bizarre that not one, but TWO nannies have made such serious allegations against the Dhalla family.
An investigation will have to be launched into Nannygate. If the allegations are proven to be true, then Ruby Dhalla must step down immediately and charges have to be laid against her and her family. If the allegations are false, then the nannies must be sent back to the countries from whence they came. In the mean time, if the liberal leader, Count Chocula, is as open and transparent as he and his handlers claim he is, then he should ask Ruby Dhalla to step down until the investigation is complete.
Ruby Dhalla is described as an *upcoming star* in the liberal party. I would say she certainly fits the liberal prototype–always mired in controversy, and never admitting when she’s wrong.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Now that I have party memberships in all the non-Conservative parties, I pull off this stuff all the time.
As we speak, I have Dhogdudu out digging in the garden, secure in the knowledge that he won’t pull his ankle chain out of the tree stump where I have him chained. It is a quaint third world custom that I support. You can too. Join the progressives and do all the things they criticise the conservatives for doing!
Now, for little Mhusk to bring me a nice rye and ginger!
May 5th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
In a lot of these cases, the employers get to charge the nannies a hefty rent for staying in their homes, knowing that they really can’t get rent anywhere else on their miniscule salaries. If you have anyone bragging about their housekeeper to you, bear Dhalla in mind. This behaviour might be more common than we think.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Geez, $250.00 smackeroos?…if I take a reading on the budget and recyle the cans I think get me one of those housekeepers…and my dogs are barking.
May 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
We’ve heard several cases like this in Vancouver. A year or so back, it was a Chinese couple, both doctors, accused of over-working and under-paying their nannies.
When you consider the class consciousness of Asian people, this treatment of servant classes is not surprising.
Over at DMB, Dhalla’s supporters say this is a smear job by the anti-Liberal Toronto Star.
Toronto Star! I think those are the SOB’s that called me and tried to sell me a subscription about a year ago!
May 6th, 2009 at 7:50 am
I have experienced this sort of thing first hand. When I was first out of nursing school and having a hard time finding a job I put myself on Craigslist for nanny/caretaker work.
Most everyone who phoned me wanted me to work for minimum wage and do housecleaning and cooking in addition to caring for their elderly parent. One even tried to sell this package to me with her extremely verbally/physcially abusive mother as “a great experience”.
So let me get this straight, you can’t handle your own beloved family (assumed to be beloved so much you don’t want to put them in a home), but you expect me to be your maid and be their punching bag for minimum wage? Please.
May 6th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Maybe they figured you’d lose your temper and off the old girl, thus relieving the family of their burden. They probably practiced anguished crying for the TV cameras,”we had no idea she’d throttle our beloved old bitch, er…mom”!
You’re much better off at the hospital.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Really though, a nursing home costs about 5k a month. Hiring a slave for $500 a week is a great deal. Especially if you can get them to massage your stinking feet and perform menial, demeaning tasks.
The Dhallas had a good thing going–I mean, if they actually did that–wink wink.
May 6th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
[...] OUR MULTICULTI PARADISE? Ruby Dhalla & Family May Have Kept Slaves …. [...]
May 7th, 2009 at 6:04 am
[...] even more disturbing than the allegations that MP Ruby Dhalla may have mistreated two nannies, is the apparent lack of initiative taken by two Ontario Ministers when they finally [...]