Filipino Nurses Support Group
Metro Vancouver
Letter to the editor

Letter to the Editor, Re: Activists don't speak for all caregivers

January 19, 2006

Re: Activists don’t speak for all caregivers
19 January 2006, Alfonso Demaio

Dear metro Vancouver editor:

I am offended by the above-mentioned letter - a slap
in the face to the overwhelming majority of our
community in Canada.  Almost 100,000 Filipino women have migrated here over the last two decades under the racist and anti-women Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP).

It is a voice of privileged bias to say that the
answer to the rampant human rights violations
committed under the LCP is to simply fine or punish
abusive employers.

Among the growing list of problems and abuses
sentenced to Filipino women under the LCP are:
mandatory live-in requirement, temporary immigration
status, requirement to complete 24 months of live-in
work within 3 years, discrimination against or
termination of pregnant women, processing delays for
work permits, prohibition against taking academic
upgrading courses, forced separation from their
families, onerous immigration fees ($975 head tax),
arbitrary deportation of domestic workers, and many
more.

As grassroots advocates, we vow to ceaselessly work
for and look forward to the long overdue scrapping of
the LCP.  Let them be admitted as immigrants just like
any other and not as temporary workers.  By doing
this, Canada can begin to bring justice for Filipinos
in Canada, and address urgent needs of all working
families for affordable and accessible day care and
elderly home care in the community on a national
scale.

Sheila Farrales
Filipino Nurses Support Group
Vancouver