Ontario Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla spoke with the media at her constituency office in Brampton, Ont., on Friday. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla insisted at a news conference Friday that allegations that her family mistreated three former live-in caregivers are "false and unsubstantiated."

"These allegations have come as a big shock," Dhalla told reporters in Brampton, Ont. "I ask everyone watching today to withhold judgment and give my family privacy as the truth comes to light."

The MP for the riding of Brampton-Springdale strongly disputed the allegations made by Magdalene Gordo, 31, and Richelyn Tongson, 37, caregivers formerly employed by Dhalla's family, and left her lawyer to do most of the talking.

However, Dhalla also said she would strive to work for federal reforms to ensure immigrant workers are protected from abuse at the hands of employers.

"I understand the challenges immigrants and women face," Dhalla said. "I have dedicated a great part of my life to working on these issues."

Dhalla's lawyer, Howard Levitt, held up documents he said proved key parts of the caregivers' stories were not true.

The two women of Philippine origin allege they were hired illegally in 2008 to care for Dhalla's mother, Tavinder Dhalla. They claim they earned $250 a week working 12- to 16-hour days at the Dhalla family home in Mississauga, Ont.

They also allege Dhalla seized their passports and that other family members made them wash cars, shine shoes and clean chiropractic clinics owned by the Dhalla family.

A third woman has recently come forward to say she was also mistreated while employed by the Dhalla family. She told the Toronto Star she was hired as a housekeeper, paid $370 for nine days of work and never worked less than 12 hours a day.

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff — who, other than issuing a terse statement Wednesday, has remained silent on the matter — spoke briefly to reporters in Toronto on Friday.

"We need to get to the bottom of these allegations quickly and get closure," he said.

Lawyer Howard Levitt displays receipts during a press conference at Dhalla's constituency office Friday. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

One of the documents presented by Levitt on Friday was a paper that Levitt said Gordo signed, stating she had been paid in full for her services.

"They don't owe me anything," Levitt quoted Gordo as saying in the document.

Levitt also held up a letter he said was from one of Dhalla's neighbours who was responsible for shovelling snow at the Dhalla home. Levitt said it proves that allegations that the workers were made to shovel snow are false.

The neighbour, who was not named, has been handling that task alone for the past five years, Levitt said.

Allegations that Dhalla held on to the workers' passports against their will are equally false, Levitt said. The lawyer produced what he referred to as a "receipt" allegedly written by Tongson stating she willingly gave her passport to Dhalla's brother, Neil, as part of the process of applying for sponsorship to stay in Canada.

"Again, that allegation [that Dhalla took Tongson's passport] is simply false and belied by her own receipt at the time," Levitt said.

Caregivers were employed by brother, not MP

Levitt called into question the timing of the allegations, noting it has been more than a year since any of the complainants worked in the Dhalla home.

He noted several times that Dhalla was not the one receiving care from the workers, nor was she the person employing them. Her mother was receiving care and her brother was the employer, Levitt said.

'There are many motivations [for the allegations], including political motivations.' — Howard Levitt, Ruby Dhalla's lawyer

He also said allegations that Gordo was in regular contact with Dhalla were suspicious and he produced a handful of airplane boarding passes to show Dhalla was only in the Greater Toronto Area for at most three days while Gordo worked in the Dhalla home.

Though he declined to name specific individuals, Levitt also suggested a nebulous, politically motivated conspiracy was behind the caregivers' allegations.

"There are many motivations [for the allegations], including political motivations," Levitt said.

He called the allegations part of an organized campaign designed to "destroy Dr. Dhalla's career and reputation."

"I look forward to having an opportunity to have these people testify under oath," Levitt said.

Caregivers often overworked, underpaid, advocacy group says

The news conference came just a few hours after a Toronto group that advocates on behalf of caregivers said the claims of abuse involving the Dhalla family are indicative of the problems faced by some foreign workers.

Agatha Mason, the executive director of Intercede, which advocates for domestic workers, caregivers and newcomers, said the issue is not new but is just now getting publicity because a politician is involved.

"This situation is shedding light on an old issue over a decade that we've raised over and over," said Mason.

Marilyn Oladimeji, chairwoman of Intercede, said along with complaints about wage and being overworked, a number of caregivers have called her organization to say their employer has put them out on the street in wintertime.

"We've also had agencies that have been taking money from caregivers to be able to come into the country," she said. "They promise them jobs, and they come here, and there … [are] no jobs."

On Thursday, a parliamentary committee said it would ask Dhalla to answer the allegations of abusive and illegal behaviour involving live-in caregivers.

Dhalla has also asked the federal ethics commissioner to review the allegations, though it is not clear whether she has any jurisdiction in the matter.

Dhalla resigned as the Liberal party's multiculturalism critic Wednesday after the allegations surfaced.

The affair erupted that day as a parliamentary committee released a report that chronicles the ill treatment often experienced by temporary foreign workers, including those in the federal Live-In Caregiver Program.

The three women who have accused Dhalla of mistreatment say she hired them without getting the necessary approval of the program.