LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Minister Kenney disputes ‘false allegations’ in Reporter article

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Minister Kenney disputes ‘false allegations’ in Reporter article

Dear Editor,

I wish to respond to several false allegations from your September 1 article entitled “Resounding ‘NO’ to LCP changes”, and from Migrante Ontario’s press release entitled “Gov’t response to LCP changes – a sweeping blow” that you printed on September 16.

Your September 1 article incorrectly claims our Government is opposed to any changes to the Live-in Caregiver Program. Let me assure your readers that it is our full intent to make improvements to the LCP.

In fact, our Government plans to introduce measures which will strengthen protections for caregivers, improve their working conditions, and reduce the potential for employer exploitation and abuse.
Your article and Migrante Ontario’s press release are critical of our Government for not implementing changes to the LCP recommended by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. The changes we plan to introduce in the months ahead speak directly to the objectives underlying some of the Committee’s recommendations.

Furthermore, as we indicated in our response to the Standing Committee, the Government has been working on regulatory changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that will enhance the monitoring of employers’ compliance with their commitments under the LCP program.

Your article also falsely implies live-in caregivers are not given a pathway to permanent residence. This is clearly not the case. In fact, the ability to apply for permanent residence upon completing the program is one of its defining features. Over 90 percent of live-in caregivers eventually apply for permanent residence and approximately 98 percent are successful.

Finally, Migrante Ontario could not be more wrong when it claims that the Government lacks an “understanding of what caregivers have been going through”. We have, in fact, listened to and consulted extensively with caregivers, and we continue to do so.

As we have heard, caregivers work under unique and sometimes difficult conditions. Our Government is fully aware of their concerns and remains committed to making substantial changes that will improve both their working conditions and the LCP.

The Honourable Jason Kenney
Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism