Jason Kenney's Bigotry Resurfaces as Mexican Woman Banned From Country

Gerhard Wiebe and Maria Eugenia Vazquez Cortes, were married in Canada in 2008.

Wiebe is a Canadian citizen, but Cortes, though legally permitted to stay in Canada while her permanent residency application is being processed, is from Mexico.

In June Maria's mother died and she had to travel to Mexico to bury her mother and handle her affairs.

Before they flew to Mexico, Wiebe, 53, said they checked with the immigration ministry to ensure Cortes would be allowed back into Canada. “They said there’s no problem because I have a sponsorship application,” Wiebe said. All they would have to do is apply for another visitor’s visa from the Canadian embassy in Mexico.

But when they tried to return home to Canada, Kenney slammed the door shut. He loves doing stuff like that.

And despite the fact that their MP, Dave Van Kesteren, is Conservative, and has stepped in on their behalf, Kenney refuses to listen.

Why should he? Harper's MPs are not allowed to talk, and Van Kesteren is talking. He broke the rules.

Unless the immigration ministry intervenes or the embassy officials grant Cortes a new visitor’s visa, Wiebe and his wife will have to start a new sponsorship application — a process that may take more than a year. “It seems like they don’t understand that she doesn’t have nothing over there anymore,” Wiebe said. “We got everything here, but nothing there.”

[Their lawyer] Lederer called the ministry’s and embassy’s decisions “very harsh,” and expressed sympathy for the couple’s plight. “It’s a personal catastrophe to them,” the lawyer said. “They are a married couple. They love each other. They just want to live together.” Citizenship and Immigration Canada could not provide comment on the case Thursday.

"Could not provide comment". Same old. same old.