Everybody wants to be home during the Christmas season.
So imagine the shock for 16-year-old Kitti Toris when she received a notice from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that she should buy a one-way ticket out of the country pronto because her study visa had expired and it was not about to be renewed.
It would have meant Toris would have to leave her Okotoks area home, where she lives with her legal guardians, Laszlo Radi and her half-sister Viktoria Radi.
Toris has lived in Canada the past three years, joining Laszlo and Radi from Hungary — where the Radis had been her legal guardians as well.
The Radis have appealed, so it will mean that Toris, a student at Holy Trinity Academy, won’t be jumping on a plane for Budapest in the near future.
It’s a bizarre situation.
Somehow, it has been determined that it was necessary to have a 16-year-old girl removed from the country.
Possibly, by the absolute black and white letter of the law, it was the right one because of some obtuse technicality.
Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected — and before — Canada has proudly stated it has welcomed immigrants, and it has, with thousands of refugees being invited into this great country.
Foothills MP John Barlow is absolutely right when we says there is a glitch in the system and maybe some decisions should be made based on common sense.
He has presented the Toris file to the Immigration Minister to review the situation.
Hopefully the Toris decision can be reversed, so that a teenage girl can have some peace of mind, not to mention her legal guardians who have set up shop and established roots in the community.
For now, Toris is home for Christmas. Let’s just hope in future years being home for Christmas in not only in her dreams.
