Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague, the member for Trinity—Spadina, for bringing this important matter before the House of Commons.
It is very fitting that the immigration committee dealt with these real and pressing issues, but I think they are of such a nature that they warrant the attention of the entire House of Commons, which should be seized with these issues.
I am particularly interested in my colleague's comments regarding live-in caregivers being used as cheap labour in some situations. I suppose I will begin with the caveat or comment that it boggles my mind that we consider those whom we hire to care for our children and our most precious elders as cheap, rather than highly skilled, labour.
This is a skill that we should value. These are not people who should be on the scale of manual or unskilled labour. It has always bothered me that nursery school teachers and day care centre workers are considered low-paid, low-skilled workers. These are highly skilled jobs and should be valued as such.
My question for my colleague is with respect to the rash of incidents where employers have violated the terms and conditions, such as by withholding passports or asking the live-in caregivers to do work that is clearly outside caregiving, such as shining the employer's shoes or general housework. Is if there is any recourse? Are these matters being investigated and prosecuted in any meaningful way, or do these matters just exist as complaints to be registered with us as MPs?