Unfair and inequitable. These are the words used by French-born Sainte-Justine-de-Newton citizen Tania Rampillon about the selection process for the Government of Canada's Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program. Néomédia was able to speak with the woman who wanted to submit a sponsorship application for her mother, Marithé Rampillon, in 2016. 

Ms. Rampillon, who has worked at the Coop CSUR in Sainte-Marthe since 2015, is the instigator of a virtual petition to denounce the selection process for this federal program.

To date, nearly 271 signatories have affixed their names to the virtual document, which will eventually be presented by Salaberry-Suroît MP Claude DeBellefeuille. To be presented to the House of Commons, the virtual petition must have at least 500 signatures. 

The Rampillon family's love affair with Quebec began in the 1970s. “My mother moved here at that time. I was born here. We moved back to France shortly after I was born, so I have dual citizenship. In 1998, I decided to move to Quebec. In 2014, my mother's husband died, and as I'm her only daughter, she decided to move back to be with me, her son-in-law and her two granddaughters,” she explains.  

At the time, an assistant to New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Anne Quach told Tania Rampillon about the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program, which allows a Canadian citizen to sponsor a relative.

Since this can be a lengthy process, the federal government has introduced the Super Visa for Parents and Grandparents, which allows the holder to visit their children or grandchildren for five years at a time. “It can be spread over a period of up to ten years. So it seemed like the perfect solution for us. We figured my mother's case would be settled in that time. But that hasn't happened yet,” she adds. 

Marithé lived here for 7 years from 2016 to 2023 before having to return to France. Her supervisa having expired and the immigration process unfinished... not even started. 

A first step in 2016

Nearly eight years ago, Tania began the sponsorship process by completing and submitting all the required documents.

“It's a complex and time-consuming process. The preferred formula for processing files was first come, first served. I sent in my mother's file very early on, so I was quite optimistic. However, one of the forms had been filled in incorrectly, which contributed to my application being rejected out of hand. I started the whole process again in 2017. However, the application process had been changed,” she says. 

With the volume of applications too high, the federal government decided to change its strategy. “During the application period, you had to fill out a form that said: I X wish to sponsor X domiciled in X and send it to the government. When the application period closed, a draw was held to determine which files would be processed. My mother's was never lucky enough to be randomly selected in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Maybe in 2024, it'll be our turn", she philosophizes.  

So it was to denounce this way of doing things that Tania launched the petition. “I also want to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Immigration to denounce this process. The petition is a first step in this direction, as it will give more weight to my case if several people sign it. For it to be sponsored by a Member of Parliament, there must be 500 signatories. That's not the case for us at the moment. I hope that people will be made aware of its raison d'être and sign it. Then we'll have the clout we need to get the attention of Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller.” 

For his part, Claude DeBellefeuille is quick to denounce Immigration Canada's shortcomings. “Once again, Immigration Canada is showing just how dysfunctional it is as a federal government department. We're not talking about numbers here, we're talking about people. And if ever a department needed to act in a humane manner, it's Immigration Canada. We have to admit that it's accumulating failures,” the representative for the riding of Salaberry-Suroît told Néomédia. 

Ms. DeBellefeuille also sent a letter to Minister Marc Miller, asking him to take a position on the shortcomings of the family reunification sponsorship program and to make proposals for improving the program (for example, giving priority to files that are not selected after a few years of unsuccessful attempts, or keeping applicants informed in real time of the status of their application.

A request for access to information 

In recent months, Tania submitted an access to information request to the Ministry of Immigration to find out the status of her application. Was she still in the file bank from which cases were selected for processing?

“It's a flagrant lack of humanism to have to make an access to information request to get information on your own file. It just doesn't make sense. I approached the MNA for Salaberry-Suroît, Claude DeBellefeuille, and she was immediately open. She had excellent contacts at the Ministry of Immigration, and a week later she was able to confirm that my application was still in the 2020 file bank. That's a relief.” 

Before that, MP Peter Schiefke's office had also taken steps to help the Rampillon family. Since the beginning of her efforts, Tania has been able to count on the support of Bianka Dupaul, her friend and ally. 

“Marithé is 79 years old and her health is good at the moment, but you never know how the situation might evolve. It's a great source of stress for both Tania and Marithé. We want to get things moving. We have to make things happen,” confides Mrs Dupaul. 

An apartment waiting for her in Rigaud

Marithé still owns a condo in the region. A condo she occupied when she moved to Canada in recent years.

“We want immigrants arriving in Quebec to speak French and be active in society. This is exactly the case for Marithé, who used to teach French to international students at Collège Bourget and Magie des mots. She is retired and paid by France. She volunteered at Coop CSUR, Marché Écolocal and Hôpital Sainte-Justine with sick children. We understand that there are criteria for new arrivals, but we don't understand why parents, grandparents and spouses are included in the same immigration quotas as war, climate or political refugees. There will always be global emergencies, so family reunification will always come last. Reform of the system is necessary, but there's no time to wait. If we don't fight for it now, we're afraid it will be forgotten,” concludes Ms. Dupaul. 

On May 21, the Canadian government announced that another wave of draws would be held from among the applications submitted in 2020. “We're keeping our fingers crossed,” concludes Tania. 

Those interested in supporting Tania Rampillon by signing the petition can do so via this link.