The ambition question

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 1:37 PM - 20 Comments

Susan Delacourt considers some of the scorn directed Ruby Dhalla’s way.

Ambition is a tolerable trait in male politicians, but it’s still true, by and large, that ambition is seen as a flaw for women. When Belinda Stronach defected from Conservatives to the then-ruling Liberals in 2005, for instance, Stephen Harper said it was “just ambition” that drove her away.

The selfless bravery of anonymity

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 5:16 PM - 17 Comments

Anonymous Liberals explain what makes Ruby Dhalla singularly unique in Ottawa.

Some colleagues aren’t too sad to see her star tarnished. Some feel Dhalla hogs the spotlight, is phony and too interested in her own advancement. ”She’s a bit of a manipulator,” one MP said.

Ruby Dhalla wants the last word

By Anne Kingston - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 11:57 PM - 75 Comments

As theatrical spectacle, Ruby Dhalla’s surprise press conference this afternoon didn’t deliver anything close to satisfying catharsis. But it did exactly what it needed to do. The Liberal MP for Brampton-Springdale and former Bollywood film star stuck mostly to script, denouncing charges made early in the week that she mistreated immigrant workers in her family’s Mississauga, Ont., home as “false and unsubstantiated.”  “I have always been a champion of women, of immigrants, of new Canadians,” she said.

Of course, it is precisely Dhalla’s political identity as a champion of immigrants and women’s rights that made the allegations so juicy when they broke earlier this week. It was as if Canada finally had its own Eliot Spitzer, the great moralizer who was taken down by a hooker. Dhalla’s website describes her as “the daughter of immigrant parents,” someone “sensitive to the challenges encountered by new Canadians.” It also expresses her dedication to women’s rights: “Raised by a single mother, Dr. Dhalla recognizes the many obstacles women face in their careers and daily lives and is committed to recognizing their hard work, vision and commitment.”

Allegations made by two women hired as nannies for the politician’s mother that came to light earlier this week threatened to detonate that image. They claimed that they earned $250 a week working 12- to 16-hour days at the Dhalla family home, that Dhalla herself had seized their passports and that other family members made them wash cars, shovel snow and clean chiropractic clinics owned by the family. Dhalla acted swiftly and stepped down from her position as youth and multiculturalism critic in the Liberal shadow cabinet and requested a review by the Ethics Commissioner. Ironically, a Commons committee report tabled the same day found the federal live-in caregiver program designed to help immigrant workers actually “places the live-in caregiver in a disadvantaged position, dependent on her employment for more than her livelihood.”

Then yesterday, a third woman, Lyle Alvarez, came forward with allegations Dhalla promised she would try to help her stay in Canada as a live-in caregiver if she passed a tryout as a homemaker—a grueling schedule of long hours scrubbing floors, cleaning clothes and shining dozens of pairs of shoes. She quit after nine days and was paid $370, a sum that works out to less than $3.50 an hour.
As for today’s histrionics, they were well supplied by Howard Levitt, the Toronto employment lawyer representing Dhalla. Levitt blustered, railed against the press, proffered signed receipts for wages that contradicted claims that they had not been paid, Dhalla’s boarding passes that proved she had limited exposure to the workers and letters from a cleaning service used at the family’s chiropractic clinic that claimed it did all of the cleaning.

His boldest move, however, was to recast Dhalla from alleged victimizer of immigrant labour to “the victim in all this.” Her brother Neil Dhalla was hung out as the “employer.”   “She wasn’t the person for whom care was being given,” Levitt said of Dhalla. “She gave them no instruction.” He made vague, ominous references to a vast conspiracy out to ruin his client’s career. “They’ve made a grievous error,” he intoned.

Dhalla’s bulldog lawyer was introduced just as Agatha Mason of Intercede, a Toronto agency that assists domestic workers, corroborated one of the nannies’ stories: she said she contacted Dhalla on her behalf, and insisted that she give her passport back within 24 hours or they’d contact police. Mason said she didn’t know at the time that she was dealing with a federal politician.

Dhalla’s lawyer’s no-comment order gives the politician an out from appearing before next week’s Commons immigration committee to study migrant workers, an event perfectly timed to deflect attention from Mulroney’s testimony at the Schreiber inquiry. It promises to be a circus. Former Dhalla employees have been called to testify. Conservative MP David Tilson, the committee’s chairman, has said he might call Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca and Education Minister Kathleen Wynne who are now embroiled in their own sub-scandal for not acting when they first heard the complaints made against the Dhalla family in late April.

That was at a gathering of 150 caregivers, mostly from the Philippines, convened to support a private member’s bill introduced by Liberal MPP Mike Colle calling for the licensing of all foreign-worker recruitment agencies and a ban on collecting fees from workers brought here. Their stories were heart-wrenching: One woman testified the dog of the family she was working for bit her three times but she wasn’t allowed to seek medical help. When she decided to quit, her employer wanted her to sign a paper that said the family wasn’t responsible for the dog attacks. “I was told I won’t get the record of employment or T4 if I didn’t.” She didn’t sign and didn’t get the papers.

Today, Dhalla, ever the politician, promised to lead reform to the laws protecting caregivers. More politically savvy was the unusual absence of any reference to the party where Dhalla was once a rising star. No red Liberal signs, no photograph of her celebrating Michael Ignatieff’s coronation at the Liberal convention by his side. Dhalla, who showed up at that convention in a white stretch limo, is known to thrive in the spotlight. Which is why, contrary to her lawyer’s wishes, she had to have the last word. She asked Canadians to hold their judgment and asked for privacy for her family. “When the facts and truth come forward true victory will be achieved,” she said. Before then, one way or another, a political scandal—one that takes our eyes off of the women who are the real victims out there—is inevitable.

Ruby Dhalla and the ethics commissioner: looks like a dead end

By John Geddes - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 7:05 PM - 27 Comments

Ruby Dhalla and her lawyer suggest new layers of complexity and even conspiracy in the story of allegations about caregivers her family employed. But don’t hold your breath waiting for the federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to step in to settle the matter.

At her news conference today, Dhalla’s lawyer again referred to her request for the commissioner to review the allegations against her. It certainly sounds like the sort of thing that would make sense. The problem is that MPs took steps last year to make sure the commissioner doesn’t have any clear mandate to look into this sort of affair.
Continue…

Her side

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 3:31 PM - 46 Comments

After a brief opening statement—and rather unequivocal denial—from Ms. Dhalla, her lawyer is putting on a rather dramatic show of paperwork, receipts, boarding passes and witness statements, making ominous and vague statements about an organized attack on his client.

More from Globe, Canwest, Canadian Press, Toronto Star , CBC and CTV. Video here.

Akin has Ignatieff’s statement.

Geddes explores the ethics commissioner riddle.

Live from Brampton

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 2:03 PM - 10 Comments

Ruby Dhalla speaks in an hour. Adjust your afternoon accordingly.

A voice of reason

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 1:48 PM - 10 Comments

Stephen Harper, April 8, 2008.

“Unfortunately, I think some committees put all their efforts on topics that are essentially partisan and which aren’t really of importance for the Canadian population … The role of parliamentary committees is not to act as tribunals outside the justice system.”

So not an entirely bad week then

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 8, 2009 at 12:09 AM - 6 Comments

According to Hello! magazine’s newly published analysis, there are two certifiably beautiful people in Ottawa. One is the governor general. The other is a little known Liberal MP who is reported to “be injecting a shot of glamour into Ottawa’s political culture.”

Kady is no doubt excited

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 6:43 PM - 38 Comments

The immigration committee calls in the nannies.

No comment (III)

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 1:45 PM - 5 Comments

Really, seriously, Jason Kenney can’t comment. To do so would improperly politicize the situation and we can’t have that. Surely everyone can agree on at least that much.

That said, Mr. Kenney’s spokesman would like to alert you to a “Liberal cover-up.“

Newsmakers of the week

By Lianne George - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 1:30 PM - 0 Comments

Barenaked justice

For six months, former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page passed random drug tests, underwent therapy, and generally kept his nose clean—as per the conditions laid out for him by New York Judge Thomas Miller following Page’s arrest last summer for drug possession. At a hearing last Friday, Judge Miller dismissed all charges against Page, as well as those against his girlfriend Christine Benedicto, and her roommate Stephanie Ford. “I talked to Steven 20 minutes ago, and he’s elated,” Page’s loquatious attorney Mark J. Mahoney told the Buffalo News. A drug conviction would not have boded well for the musician’s new solo career, he said—he would have been banned from entering the United States for years. When asked how his client has been occupying himself, Mahoney volunteered, “He’s been writing songs, working on a book, and scouting out the possibility of performing in some kind of Broadway show.”

Nanny diaries

Two Toronto-area caregivers are alleging that Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla, 35, and her family hired them illegally and mistreated them, seizing their passports, and forcing them to shine shoes, wash cars, and clean a cousin’s apartment and Dhalla’s brother Neil’s chiropractic clinics. According to Magdalene Gordo, 31, and Richelyn Tongson, 37, who spoke to the Toronto Star, Dhalla hired them to care for her mother Tavinder Dhalla in early 2008. But instead of doing caregiving work, they say they spent 12 to 16 hours a day, five days a week, doing manual labour for $250 a week. “Her mother had me out shovelling snow at midnight,” Gordo said. “She wanted a slave, not a caregiver.” They also claim their passports were taken from them and that their work permits, as per Canada’s Live-In Caregiver Program, were not in order. Dhalla, who is the Liberal critic for youth and multiculturalism, denies the allegations and says she is “shocked and appalled.” “Anyone who has ever worked in our home has been treated with a lot of love, with a lot of care and compassion,” she told the Star, “and money has never, ever been withheld from anyone.”

Continue…

No comment (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 1:03 PM - 6 Comments

As noted previously, the Immigration Minister really can’t comment, lest he “politicize” the Ruby Dhalla situation.

That said, he can still, apparently, post videos to YouTube.

CJPAC packs them in – Ruby Dhalla during happier times

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 11:55 AM - 0 Comments

The Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee held its third annual Action party in Toronto at Andrew Richard Designs.

Below (left to right) are Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow and Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber.

Kenney and Chow share a moment.

Continue…

Kumbaya

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 1:18 AM - 15 Comments

Because it’s not truly a story until some anonymous Liberals get involved.

Please investigate me

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 12:14 AM - 19 Comments

Ruby Dhalla calls in the ethics commissioner.

Is this perhaps a bit much?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 12:02 AM - 34 Comments

A question posed this afternoon by Conservative Lois Brown to the Immigration Minister.

Mr. Speaker, nannygate is not just about the member for Brampton—Springdale, It is about the Liberal Party. It is about a culture of arrogance and entitlement that treats women, immigrant women in particular, like chattel. Not one Liberal has come out and stood up for these abused nannies. The Liberal Party is failing immigrant women, not just by taking them for granted but by being silent when they are being abused. Where are the Liberal voices standing up for these abused caregivers? Will the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism tell the House what the government is doing to protect immigrant women?

The Commons: The good ole hockey game

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 7:30 PM - 17 Comments

The Scene. Bob Rae was lingering near the microphones after Question Period, taking questions on Ruby Dhalla’s nanny troubles, when he decided to venture an analogy

“I’ve said many times that politics is more like hockey than it’s like ballet,” he mused. “If you perceive a weakness, then it’s no surprise to anyone that people would try to take partisan advantage of that.”

The government side has taken a few opportunities these past two days to raise the matter of Ruby Dhalla in the House. On each occasion, a backbencher was sent up solemn-faced and seemingly on the verge of tears to read into the record details of the various allegations and ask that a minister rise to explain in further detail how precisely abhorrent the whole thing is. Today, both Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, and Jason Kenney, the immigration minister, were given the chance and carried out their duties with obvious concern.

“Having been at this business for nearly 30 years, I’m not surprised by anything that I’ve seen or heard in the House of Commons the last couple of days,” Rae continued. “I think the point has to be made though that we don’t do public show trials in Canada and we don’t try and hang people on the floor of the House of Commons.”

Indeed, Canada did away with public hanging shortly after it became a country. Thus, we were left with hockey and politics to satisfy our need of bloody spectacle. And so Question Period still serves some purpose. Continue…

Great moments in discretion (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 1:26 PM - 15 Comments

The last question of QP yesterday, posed by Conservative backbencher Paul Calandra.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal MP for Brampton—Springdale is in hot water for hiring two live-in caregivers and then refusing to sponsor their immigration applications, essentially keeping them in a position of involuntary servitude. The abuses the Toronto Star documents include improperly seizing their passports, requiring evening foot massages for the member’s relatives, cleaning the chiropractic offices of family members. Could the minister tell me what more the government can do to protect live-in caregivers from these kinds of tragic abuses?

Great moments in discretion

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 1:24 PM - 56 Comments

Randomly selected quotes from Question Period on May 8, 2008.

Maxime Bernier. “Mr. Speaker, I never thought that I would be the victim of such a low, meanspirited attack by an opposition party. This is my private life people are talking about.”

Peter Van Loan. “Mr. Speaker, I am sure you would agree that if the House of Commons lowered itself to spending its days inquiring into the private lives of the members, our country would be a much sadder place.”

Peter Van Loan. “Mr. Speaker, it was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau who said, ‘The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.’ The deputy leader of the Liberal Party is clearly no Pierre Trudeau.”

Peter Van Loan. “Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that these are politically motivated, personal attacks on someone’s private life, which have no place in the House of Commons.”

Continue…

UPDATED: The Nanny Diaries

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 11:38 AM - 37 Comments

Photo by Mitchel Raphael

Faced with allegations she and her family mistreated two live-in caregivers, Ruby Dhalla issues a formal statement:

“This morning I called the leader to personally tender my resignation as Multiculturalism & Youth Critic  in order to focus my attention on clearing my name. I will work with the appropriate officials to ensure the facts of the matter are clarified and corrected regarding my family’s experience with live-in caregivers and will work vigorously to defend my reputation. I am honored to represent the people of Brampton-Springdale and I will continue to do so. My constituents remain my first priority.”

UPDATE: Dhalla calls in the ethics commissioner.

No comment

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 8:55 PM - 11 Comments

David Akin notes Jason Kenney’s inventive approach to not commenting.

Consolation prize

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 13, 2009 at 1:01 AM - 5 Comments

Perhaps not quite as prestigious as leading NATO, but Peter MacKay can now, once again, consider himself Parliament’s Sexiest Male MP.

Some of the other results of the Hill Times survey after the jump. Continue…

The Commons: How do you solve a problem like Afghanistan?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 5:28 PM - 13 Comments

The Scene. Forced for the third consecutive day to defend his government’s position on the auto industry and perhaps tired of making the same attack on the leader of the opposition, Industry Minister Tony Clement decided today to go with the mid-90s pop culture reference.

“The honourable member talks about leadership. There is no leadership on the other side,” Clement said in response to Liberal Ruby Dhalla. “They actually remind me of that Seinfeld episode where the person knew how to take the car reservation, they just did not know what to do with the car reservation. On that side they aspire to the leadership, but if they ever got it, they would not know what to do with it. That is not leadership.”

This metaphor may or may not have been applicable. Reviewing the scene in question, it’s not clear who Jerry would be in this analogy. Possibly the Canadian people. Or perhaps the rental car is the Canadian people and Jerry is Tony Clement and Michael Ignatieff is Elaine and the rental car lady is the personification of Liberal arrogance. Or maybe it’s the other way round.

Anyway. Whatever the case, this quip did leave Dhalla a rather sizable opening she did fairly well not to miss.

“Mr. Speaker, this is not a Seinfeld episode,” she shot back. “This is a reality that Canadians are living day in and day out.”

The Liberals stood and yelled and cheered.

Otherwise the day was dominated by discussion of a place where democracy is taken far more seriously. Namely, Afghanistan. Continue…

Politics and the Pen plus the Cabinet Ministers hairdresser

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 9:31 PM - 50 Comments

The Writers’ Trust of Canada handed out their annual $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize honouring political writing excellence to James Orbinski for An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century at the annual Politics and the Pen gala dinner in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom. Politics and the Pen is one of Ottawa’s A-list events and brings out top politicians, including Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and Transport Minister John Baird.

A full press! Adam Chambers, aide to Jim Flaherty, with Lynn Meahan (left), press secretary to Labour Minister Rona Ambrose, and Jasmine MacDonnell, press secretary to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt.

Laureen Harper with former Conservative MP Monte Solberg and designer Justina McCaffrey.

Continue…