Give the gift of permanent status to migrant workers

This holiday season while Canadians gather with their family and friends, thousands of migrant live-in caregivers, the vast majority of them women, will be separated from their families.  These women who are helping us care for our children are losing any hope of being reunited with their own children.

Recent changes made by the federal Conservative government to the Live-in Caregivers Program (LCP) close almost all avenues for migrant live-in caregivers to gain permanent residency and reunite with their children in Canada.  These migrant workers will remain essentially indentured to their employers, and will continue to be extremely vulnerable to exploitation and unjust deportation despite the changes.

The best holiday gift these migrant workers could receive is the opportunity to obtain permanent status in Canada.  It is only fair that migrant live-in caregivers be reunited with their families and that their rights be respected.  Canada should consider taking in more immigrants as future citizens rather than more temporary migrant workers and must refocus its immigration policy on permanent not temporary status.