TORONTO – MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East), NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, is calling on the federal government to take immediate action to end the injustice and hardships experienced by 40,000 live-in caregivers due to backlogs, processing delays, and separation from their family for long periods of time.
Currently, live-in caregivers must work for two years in Canada before they can apply for permanent residence. In addition to the 2-year work requirement, the average wait time to process live-in caregiver applications is another roughly 4.5 years.
“Just imagine what life would be like for you if you had to be separated from your own children for more than 6.5 years while caring for the children of another family, in a different country. The stories of live-in caregivers are heartbreaking and really highlight the devastating impact of these immigration policies on families,” said Kwan. “If Canadians knew of the injustices and hardships live-in caregivers have to endure, I don't believe they would find this acceptable,” added Kwan.
“I suffer the heartache silently for my children. I have been separated from them for 13 years. I have missed their birthdays, graduations, and communions. I have missed everything as a mother. I can’t even be by their side when they are sick. My marriage has ended and all I ever wanted was for my children to have better opportunities,” exclaimed Ms. Godoy.
“It’s morally reprehensible for live-in caregivers to be treated this way. No one should be subject to the pain and suffering that live-in caregivers have to endure. It is morally reprehensible and inhumane,” said Kwan.
The NDP has long supported the principle that if you are good enough to work, you are good enough to stay. We are calling on the government to:
MPs question Lena Diab's performance at question period and in committee
Criticism is coming not only from opposition parties, but also from Diab's own Liberal colleagues.
Away from the cameras, 10 Liberal MPs spoke to Radio-Canada about her performance. They were granted confidentiality in order to express themselves freely.
Of those, only one defended Diab's job performance. Although several of them emphasized that she is a "good person" in charge of a "difficult" portfolio, nine MPs said they believe that the minister is overwhelmed and are openly questioning her place at the cabinet table.
"It doesn't make sense. In the House of Commons, many MPs hold their breath when she answers questions from the opposition," said one Liberal elected official.
"We're afraid she'll put her foot in her mouth."
New Democrat Jenny Kwan, her party's immigration critic, said that both Carney and Diab are responsible for how the immigration file is handled.
"That responsibility is to be responsive to stakeholders, to take these issues seriously, to examine the policies, to evaluate them, to hear from opposition and the public and look for ways to improve them," she said.
"That is their job."
Conservatives are capitalizing on the recent drop in public support for immigration, but risk being seen as too MAGA adjacent, say observers. Meanwhile, the immigration minister's own colleagues question her handling of the file.
The Conservatives’ defeated motion targeting health-care coverage for asylum claimants shows weaknesses on both the part of the Liberal immigration minister and the official opposition leader, with MAGA-like rhetoric posing political risk for the latter, observers say.
Jordan Leichnitz, a former NDP strategist who now works for the German non-profit Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, told The Hill Times in a Feb. 26 interview that the Conservatives’ pressure on the immigration file is a reflection of their own political fragility.
“To me, it’s a manifestation of their political weakness right now. They turn to these arguments because they’re very mobilizing for segments of their base at moments where they feel politically more vulnerable,” she said.