Madame Granet has a lot on her heart.
We are a long way from the smiles that greeted them when they arrived in Quebec/Canada, she compares.
“Four years later, it’s a completely different atmosphere. Canada has changed a lot. His reputation is tarnished,” she wrote to us, via Messenger.
The owner of Tartes et clafoutis, Sophie Granet, and her husband Joseph Lévêque, Friday, in Guadeloupe (Sophie Granet)
Sophie Granet, Joseph Lévêque and their nine-year-old daughter flew at 3 a.m., during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, towards Guadeloupe, a French overseas department, where they are staying with friends .
Escorted during the trip
A Canadian border services agent escorted them to the doors of the plane, says Ms. Granet.
“She handed our exclusion notices, passports and boarding passes to the captain.”
When they arrived in Guadeloupe, they were not able to get off the plane before a “border police agent” came to pick them up.
“We were treated in a very degrading way. We had to remain dignified in front of our 9-year-old child and clench our fists!”
— Sophie Granet, owner of Tartes et clafoutis
The owners of this Granby bakery had previously put their fate in the hands of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, after having informed their situation to their federal MP, Andréanne Larouche.
“Extremely sad”
The member for Shefford then called on the minister to intercede on behalf of the French couple, by granting them a temporary residence permit.
“On December 23, I stopped by to greet Sophie and say that I was going to send a letter to the minister again, but unfortunately I received a call from his office that our request was refused. The minister refused to use his discretion and show humanity this holiday season.”
The Bloc member for Shefford, Andréanne Larouche (Archives Bernard Thibodeau, HOC-CDC, 202)
-“In this story, I did everything [en mon pouvoir] to the limit. I find it extremely sad,” says Ms. Larouche, in an interview with The Voice of the EastThursday afternoon.
Community mobilization will not have been enough
Andréanne Larouche was called upon by several citizens to find a solution.
An opinion letter was published to this effect on our platforms on December 22.
This sad story, first revealed by La Voix de l’Est, was then widely reported by all media. That will not have been enough.
“I continued to receive emails during the holidays, and it tore my heart to see people in the community sad about what was happening, not understanding,” says Ms. Larouche.
“I can tell them that I heard them, I would have worked until the end, but unfortunately the person who could have acted in this matter – the Minister of Immigration – did not do so. », decides the member of the Bloc Québécois.
“Such sacrifices…”
Sophie, Joseph and their daughter will have to start a new chapter in their lives.
Once the bitterness has passed and the wounds are closed.
“No one has committed such energy and such sacrifices to get to this point,” Sophie Granet writes to us.
“Many other immigrants will follow the same path. I pity them, sincerely.”
Resumption of trade in sight
The Voice of the East learned that the business occupied by Tartes et clafoutis was put up for sale even before the setbacks the couple experienced with Immigration.
A buyer, very interested, would preserve the vocation of the place.
