Ruby Dhalla Claims She’s Innocent And Being Targeted By An Organized Attack On Her Family
Posted May 8, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They’re “false” and “unsubstantiated.” Ruby Dhalla not only denies the charges being leveled against her, she wants to prove it to you, as well.
The beleaguered Liberal MP who has been under fire for an alleged scandal involving the exploitation of three domestic workers, has asked the Ethics Commissioner to probe the ever expanding allegations against her.
That was the gist of the Brampton politician’s long awaited response to charges she forced a trio of immigrants caring for her mother to work for little money and toil for long hours doing menial chores with no real reward.
But Dhalla insists she won’t take the claims lying down, with her lawyer saying outright that someone is out to target her and her family.
“The allegations that have been brought forward against myself have come as a big shock,” she maintains. “And have been devastating to both myself and my family, friends, and supporters. As a Member of Parliament, I am accountable to my constituents and to Canadians. It is in that spirit that I personally requested a third party review of the facts for these matters to take place by the Ethics Commissioner.”
Dhalla says the charges leveled at her are especially hurtful, given her past. “I am the daughter of a loving, caring and single mother, an immigrant herself … I, myself, have dedicated a great part of my own personal life to working on these issues and championing issues that are important to immigrants, to women, and to families.”
Her lawyer contends he welcomes the idea of a full probe that will subject her accusers to the laws of perjury.
Howard Levitt calls her “punctilious” in her affairs, noting she has documents that disprove all the allegations against her. And he hopes the coming investigation will remove all doubt.
“It’s easy to make allegations. It’s easy to repeat allegations,” he states. “But the allegations are absolute nonsense.”
Three women from the Philippines say they were exploited by the Liberal MP, who has already had to resign as the opposition multiculturalism critic over the affair.
Among the allegations: that she made them clean her brother’s chiropractic office, shovel the snow on her mother’s driveway, scrub the floors, wash the cars and polish her shoes during days that lasted 12-14 hours for almost no pay.
And in what may be the most serious accusation, one of the women maintains Dhalla took her passport, an act that’s against the law.
But Levitt insists he has receipts, copies of airport tickets and records that disprove all the charges, adding that it was other family members who took care of that sort of thing and that Dhalla wasn’t even in the province on many of the occasions when they were supposed to have happened.
He pointed to the snow clearing story as an example.
“I obtained this witness statement yesterday from the person who actually did and has been doing it for five years and he says for the past five years he [has been] … shovelling, [using] the snow blower, and he has never at any time in those five years seen any indication that anyone else shoveled snow prior to his arrival.”
As for the passport seizure? Levitt held up what he said was a statement from one of the nannies, showing she willingly handed over the document to Dhalla’s brother.
“I gave my passport to Dr. Neil Dhalla to apply for sponsorship, with my wishes,” he claims it reads. He wonders why it took 15 months for such a serious allegation to surface.
Levitt also attacked the press for reporting the MP as the employer, when she wasn’t in that position at all. “I know for your purposes, it’s a lot more fun, a lot more of a rush, and a lot more of a news story to name her as the employer, when you know it’s not true. It’s totally unfair.”
There are also questions being asked about whether the women had the proper permits to actually work in Ontario. But despite intense questioning from reporters and giving specifics on all the other details of this case, Levitt repeatedly failed to address the issue.
So who would want to target Dhalla and her family? The lawyer, who did most of the talking at the press conference held at his client’s Brampton office, contends that’s the key question.
“Why people would want to undermine and ultimately damage the career of somebody who is bright, done good work, and becoming, responsible, impeccably reputationed up till now? I can only speculate as you can. I don’t have an answer.”
See the entire unedited press conference below.
For now, Dhalla is asking that the public not to make up its mind until all the facts are in. “Please hold judgment and give my family privacy, as we go through this due process, as the facts and the truth come to light.”
She claims she’s received thousands of calls of support from around the country and thinks most Canadians are solidly behind her.
She concludes the last four days have been difficult for her family, and that they’re all in a “state of shock” over the charges. “When the facts and the truth comes out, [it] will ensure that I … had no involvement in this issue.”
