MONTREAL - A family of four, ordered deported from Canada because one of their two children has cerebral palsy, launched a plea to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Thursday.
David and Sophie Barlagne moved to Montreal six years ago but their request for permanent residency was denied and they have been ordered out because one of their daughters is afflicted with cerebral palsy.
Her presence was deemed to be an undue burden on Canada's health services.
David Barlagne says the decision is perplexing because provincial and federal authorities sought him to move to Canada from Guadeloupe with his software company and that he disclosed his daughter's condition in good faith from the outset.
"Immigration asked me if my daughter is sick. I told them that my daughter is disabled but it's not an illness. She doesn't require medication, or surgery or medical care and the agent told me to write nothing on the forms," says Barlagne. "I followed all the procedures to come here."
He says that his daughter is intellectually normal and that her condition would cost no more than $5,000 a year to manage.
The family applied for a judicial review of the order but their case was dismissed in May 2010 at federal court.
As things stand, the couple will be deported with their two children in July.
The Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has the power to grant the family a personal exemption to allow them to stay but thus far he has referred the issue to civil servants.
