Provincial and federal elected officials are joining forces to urge immigration ministers and Justin Trudeau to end the threat of deportation hanging over a Tunisian immigrant.
Firas Bouzgarrou is a skilled worker who obtained permanent residence in 2014, but whose dismissal is now set for October 30. The duty revealed last Monday that he lost his status because of an extended stay in Tunisia to take care of his sick daughter and his wife, in depression after losing her father.
Gathered Friday morning in Montreal for a press conference, the deputies Andrés Fontecilla from Québec solidaire, Alexandre Boulerice from the NDP, Saul Polo from the Liberal Party of Quebec, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe from the Bloc Québécois and Méganne Perry Mélançon from the Parti Québécois asked for an intervention by Ottawa emergency.
An application for a temporary residence permit is currently pending and its rapid processing would immediately prevent the deportation of Mr. Bouzgarrou. Another immigration procedure, an application for a Quebec selection certificate, could also facilitate the regularization of this father.
The man in question, as well as the members who now support him, argue that he is well integrated into Quebec society, francophone and very hardworking. He has three jobs and says he shares the values of Quebec. “The future I had planned for my family is all disappearing. It’s like a leap into the void, ”he told the To have to earlier.
This situation “is a flagrant injustice” declared the deputy Fontecilla during the rally in front of the buildings of the federal ministry of Immigration in Montreal, Friday morning. He called on the provincial Minister of Immigration, Nadine Girault, to “send a strong message to the federal government” so that this man can stay.
The Liberal Party of Quebec spokesperson on immigration, Saul Polo, also directly questioned Mr.me Girault, so that she tries to overturn “this counterproductive and indefensible decision”.
Mr. Bouzgarrou had the choice between returning to Canada or staying at the bedside of his little girl, “an impossible decision” described Mr. Boulerice, deputy leader of the NDP. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) “is once again completely unreasonable in its interpretation of immigration criteria,” he said.
The rule is that a permanent resident stays at least 730 days in Canada over five years.
It is a question of showing “compassion”, asked Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, of the Bloc Québécois. Federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino could also use his discretion “to unblock Mr. Bouzgarrou’s case before the October 30 deadline,” he continued.
His only “fault” will have been to stay at the bedside of his sick newborn, underlined in turn Méganne Perry Mélançon, spokesperson for the Parti Québécois in matters of immigration and the fight against racism. “Where is humanity in all of this?” She asked.