The first reprieve is almost over. The final decision is not yet known, as is the date. But the Guillous are preparing for the worst. “I failed to protect my family…” laments the father.
No, Nicolas Guillou doesn’t want to leave. But by no longer having a valid Quebec selection certificate (CSQ), and according to what he was able to understand in the latest communications received and during his last appearance, hope is gradually diminishing.
“We were victims of several bureaucratic and administrative errors. I have my faults too. There were a few misunderstandings, including one that forced me to defend myself in court only to be acquitted. There were mistakes in the documents, dates that were not respected due to heavy bureaucracy and documents that were not delivered on time. There was a last session at the beginning of the month during which I could not even be represented by a lawyer and everything indicates that this is the end for us in Quebec. You just have to read between the lines to understand that it’s over, but you just don’t know where to go. We will wait to find out more first.”
Owner of a computer company founded in France, Nicolas Guillou also says he has difficulty moving his company forward due to the problems experienced here in Quebec.
“My main partner is Apple, which is in the United States, and with all the document issues it’s difficult for me. Due to a question of dates and delays caused due to errors in our file, it seems impossible for us to have our CSQ, and therefore our permanent residence. It is a multiplication of errors which make the file complicated, which could cause us to leave. Among these mistakes, my partner’s passport number was written on the wrong document by an official, which delayed and prevented the delivery of other documents. Everything then unravels,” says Nicolas Guillou.
The office of the federal MP for Sherbrooke, Élisabeth Brière, confirms this succession of errors by describing the file as a typical case of administrative errors.
A bad tax declaration would also have harmed the Guillou family, the figures for the wrong year would then have been sent. Nicolas Guillou claims to have “sinned” by not having completed “a document in the right way”, which prevented him from paying his taxes some time ago, but hopes to be able to correct everything.
“At a certain point, I simply didn’t know how to think anymore, I had difficulty picking up my pencil to write because I was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening to us.”
During this time, her eldest daughter continued her studies at Champlain College after having also encountered many difficulties in continuing her studies in Quebec.
Her youngest daughter still fears that the police will come and pick her up from her primary school class to expel her from the country, says her father Nicolas.
The team of MP Elisabeth Brière supports Nicolas Guillou and his family in their efforts, offers them the necessary support and is saddened by the situation by admitting that the case is now in the Quebec court. (Karine Tremblay/Archives La Tribune)
“I am told that governments can no longer do anything for us. Will we have to leave in a few months? I don’t know. The date is not yet known. They came to pick us up in 2017, we arrived in 2020 and we have come too far to leave and start fresh elsewhere. It’s not like I did anything stupid. We’re constantly being pushed around, it’s exhausting and we don’t know where to turn in all of this! I feel like I’m at the end of my rope.”
Even if the ball seems to be in the court of the provincial government, the team of MP Elisabeth Brière supports Nicolas Guillou and his family in their efforts, “offers them the necessary support and is sorry for the situation” by specifying that the file found himself in the court of Quebec.
A final option would now be available to the Guillou family in the event of a negative response: obtain a new residence permit, in order to take advantage of a little more time in the hope of regularizing the file, once and for all.
“We are tired of all this. It’s heavy, it’s complicated and it’s bad luck on top of bad luck,” concludes Nicolas Guillou, who still wants to fight to stay in Sherbrooke.
“Our life is here now.”
