Even though family reunification is a priority according to Immigration Canada, two boys, ages 14 and 10, from Chaudière-Appalaches are still being deprived of their mother more than 18 months after arriving in the country.
• Also read: Deprived of her mother for more than a year
Denis G. Pilote, 66, has been married to an African woman since 2011 and had to leave Cameroon in July 2022 with his two children, who have Canadian citizenship.
Unable to repatriate his wife to Canada, he took unsuccessful action for a year and a half.
If his wife ever manages to join them in a few months, his children will have spent two long years without her.
“Children miss their mother’s love very much,” explains Mr. Pilote.
Precarious health
For health reasons, the man from Saguenay decided to leave Douala without his wife after about fifteen years of living together.
The sixty-year-old arrives with almost nothing and lives in Sainte-Rose-de-Watford, in the MRC des Etchemins, in Chaudière-Appalaches. His children Grégory and Alphonse now go to school in the area.
His precarious health and difficult financial situation did not help him. Nor the hospital strike.
If you agree to become a sponsor, you will be required to sign a commitment promising to provide financially for the basic needs of your spouse and their dependent children.
“Due to my low income situation, I was unable to take on the sponsorship. I am on the waiting list for open heart surgery to repair or replace a valve,” adds Denis G. Pilote.
Relatives are currently trying to find an employer in Quebec for Ms.
Humanitarian aspect
“Rich or not, children need a mother. If something happens to me during the operation, I will be worried. With the help of an immigration consultant in Cameroon, one would like to try to obtain a visitor visa for the mother. They still won't be able to deport him.
Denis G. Pilote is also saddened that more than 100,000 migrants have illegally crossed the border via Roxham Road to seek asylum in Canada. In his opinion, the humanitarian aspect should be in the foreground.
“We didn’t have the resources or the network. There are also people from countries where there is war. And if I were French, I wouldn't have had a problem. “I didn’t think it would be so long and complicated,” he confessed.
Without commenting on a specific case, a government spokesperson previously stated that “family reunification remains a priority for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.”
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