MONTREAL - Government agencies have turned a blind eye to abuses by a Montreal immigration firm that recruits Filipina domestics, advocacy groups charged Thursday.
The Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) and PINAY, a Filipinas women's organization, called for an investigation into John Aurora, an immigration consultant and landlord who recruited Filipina domestics in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Aurora died in September 2009 but CRARR said his family business is still in operation.
CRARR executive director Fo Niemi told a news conference that Aurora, owner of the Super Nanny agency, recruited dozens of Filipina women as domestics from 2004 to 2008 but in many
cases did not deliver on the promised jobs. The women paid an average of $4,000 to Aurora in fees, in addition to $1,400 in plane fare.
Niemi said Aurora demanded the women sign leases for apartments in buildings he owned in the Montreal area, where some were forced to share beds or sleep on the floor because of overcrowding.
Work without pay
There were only two bathrooms for more than 27 women and visitors were forbidden after 9 p.m., Niemi said. Many of the women were required to work for Aurora without pay, Niemi added.
When women moved out before the end of their leases, Aurora filed cases at the Quebec rental board for unpaid rent, Niemi said. In some cases, the women lost by default because they had not received the notification to appear, he said.
The women paid $160 per month each and were responsible for electricity.
Caregiver Sylvia Cordova said she was working in a factory in Taiwan in May 2006 when a friend persuaded her to attend a meeting with Aurora. By the time the meeting was over, Cordova had
agreed to pay Aurora $4,500 to help her build a new life as a live-in caregiver in Canada.
Aurora promised a well-paid job, good working conditions and the opportunity to become a Canadian citizen, she said. She made an $800 deposit on the spot. Airfare from Taiwan and
immigration fees of $350 were not included in the $4,500, she said.
When she arrived in Montreal a year later, things were not as Aurora had promised.
Full house
The job had fallen through, he told her. Cordova had to share a bed with two other women in a house Aurora owned. Other women slept on the floor in the overcrowded dwelling.
Aurora told Cordova she had to sign a lease. She said she had expected to work as a live-in caregiver and hadn't bargained on paying rent.
But Aurora insisted, she said. Anyway, he told her, she had nowhere else to go, Cordova said.
“I felt really, really disappointed," Cordova said. "I didn't have an employer and I had to sign the lease.
She raised her hands to her throat to illustrate her feelings. "I'm controlled," she said. "It's like you're in jail and they control everything."
Cordova said she was assigned to a temporary caregiving job where the employer liked her so much, she paid her $350 a week net instead of the promised $278.
When Cordova returned to Aurora's building at the end of the week, she was told she was not allowed to go to church with the other women because she had to go to the bank with Aurora to withdraw the rent money.
Aurora's daughter, Nathalie, told her that if she went back to the same job the following week, she would only be allowed to keep $278 a week and would forfeit the rest to Aurora, Cordova said.
Cordova moved out after a month. Aurora sued for unpaid rent and the case is before the rental board, she said.
Niemi said stories like Cordova's started to come to light three years ago.
In 2009, PINAY filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission on behalf of 26 women from whom Aurora sought back rent. The RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency investigated briefly but so far, none of the investigations has netted results, Niemi said.
Under federal immigration rules for live-in caregivers, they must live with the employer designated in their contract. If they need to change jobs, they must obtain a new work permit, which can take several months.
Copyright (c) CW Media Inc.