2023-10-02 04:00:00
Two doctors from the Laurentians of French origin, in Quebec for five years, are forced to leave at least 2,700 patients in the lurch, because Immigration Canada refused to renew their temporary permit, preventing them from working.
“We have no status at the moment […]. It’s dramatic to no longer be able to work, just because of paperwork,” laments doctor Jean-Louis Ménard. Their children, aged 12 and 19, are also prohibited from working or going to school.
The two family doctors from Rivière-Rouge, Jean-Louis Ménard and Isabelle Branco, accompanied by their children Cassandre and Pierre.
Photo Agence QMI, Marilyn Diotte
He and his wife Isabelle Branco are both family doctors in Rivière-Rouge. They have at least 2,700 patients in their care, not counting walk-ins and hours at the local hospital.
The family has been in Quebec for five years. Their application to obtain permanent residence was properly submitted more than two years ago. What was supposed to take 18 to 20 months remained unanswered.
In the meantime, they have to constantly renew their temporary permit to live here. In February, Mme Branco has started a fourth renewal with a view to expiring in May.
With no news in May and June, she called on her local MP and staff for help. “Everything was in order,” assures M.me Branco, who then benefited from an implicit permit allowing him to continue working, but which prohibited him from leaving the country.
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Bad document
She was scheduled to follow up in September. And that’s when she discovered she’d made a mistake by uploading the wrong receipt to her application. Quickly, the correct file was sent to officials.
But what she didn’t know was that she hadn’t seen a message from Immigration Canada at the end of July informing her of the error and giving her a week to correct it.
She recognizes her fault, but Mme Branco recalls that “this story had still been settled”.
Nothing to do, their license is refused.
“With the quantity of documents that we are asked for, it is certain that there is an overload of work [pour les fonctionnaires] “, she laments.
Her family, who come from France, have had to prove twice in the past five years that they mastered French, she quips. The couple must also undergo frequent medical examinations to ensure their good health.
To start all over
They must now start from scratch and make a fifth request for license renewal. The two doctors have also canceled their clinic days since last Thursday and until further notice.
“They ask us to redo the entire file, but in the meantime, we are suspended without rights. It’s starting to become more than embarrassing,” denounces Mr. Ménard.
Her family chose to settle in a region where there is a shortage of doctors, as emphasized by the federal MP for Laurentides—Labelle Marie-Hélène Gaudreau.
Urgent request
“For me, this is unacceptable,” declared the Bloc Québécois representative, regarding the bureaucratic burden that deprives thousands of taxpayers of their doctor.
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, of the Bloc Québécois, is the MP for Laurentides—Labelle.
Courtesy
She filed an urgent motion to hear the two doctors’ case by the end of the week, in order to resolve the issue.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRRC) declined to comment on this specific case. However, spokesperson Nancy Caron maintains that requests from people who provide essential services, such as doctors, are processed as a priority.
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