Structurally speaking, the program is discriminatory to the extent that it restricts their rights and freedoms. Under the Quebec and Canadian charters, everyone must respect their rights, such as the right to dignity. For example, a live-in caregiver may live at the home of an employer who does not close doors. She may live in a basement where there are no doors or she may sleep with a child. She therefore has no right to privacy. That is an injury to dignity, whereas we do not accept that for other Canadian or Quebec workers.
In terms of fundamental rights, we can also consider the example of the right to religious freedom. Some employers require their employees to work on Sundays, when they must go to church, for example. It is their right to practise their religion. So I'm talking first about fundamental rights. There are also all the other rights.
Based on what you said, you are concerned to see how the program is to absorb the newcomers. I would remind you that there are 200,000 undocumented persons in Canada. To date, Canada has not conducted any massive regularization campaign as there are in Europe and the United States. We also favour approaches that could take into account individuals who are already here and who are contributing to the economy.
Live-in caregivers are not only domestic workers. Their duties range from housekeeping to care for elderly persons who have been forgotten by their own families. They take care of persons with disabilities and even do children's homework. I note that the level required for live-in caregivers in Quebec is 12 years of education. They are also perfectly bilingual, because they have to know both languages. In Quebec, they must take courses in French in order to integrate in society. They must take those courses after their Saturday program, that is during their resting hours. You see the constraints that are placed on them.
It's a matter of semantics, but I remind you that, when you talk about Japanese Canadians or others, they are also Canadian citizens. We could recall the origins of those persons, but, to prove racism, or the absence of racism, perhaps we shouldn't talk about origins, but rather about access to rights. You can very well be a second-generation Canadian, born here, and suffer the existing problems of discrimination. For example, here in the black communities and among the visible minorities, the situation of an eighth generation of descendants of slaves is not always recognized. Moreover, there are no programs to correct the types of discrimination these people face.