“It is a reflection that we’re a little bit more compassionate, more understanding and able to see the big picture.”Ĭramman has long-standing mental health issues, and a drug addiction that set in following years of physical and sexual abuse. “I don’t think this would have happened a year ago,” she said. realized how unfair and horrific it was,” she said after the hearing.Ĭhamagne suggested Canada’s year-old Liberal government appears to have taken a more charitable approach to immigration issues than the previous Conservative government. “I have never seen it happen at this stage (and) I’m. Julie Chamagne, executive director of the Halifax Refugee Clinic, said she was stunned by McCallum decision. 16, she remained shackled to her hospital bed and under guard. At the time, he said it would be “inhumane” to ship her back to a country where she would have no support.Ĭramman’s case attracted national attention when her supporters revealed that while awaiting deportation on Dec. Alex Mitchell, told a recent deportation hearing that Cramman has significant addiction and mental-health issues. “If I had gone back to England, I’d be feeling like I was getting sent to Africa or something.”Ĭramman has long struggled with abuse, anxiety and chronic pain.Īnd she is recovering from surgeries she needed after she was rushed to hospital from a prison facility on Aug. “I’ve been here so long, it’s my life,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. At the age of 11, she was moved into foster care, where her status as a citizen was never resolved. Having lived in Canada since she was eight years old, Cramman said the deportation order never made sense to her because she didn’t know she wasn’t a citizen. “I feel overwhelmed and happy - really, really happy,” Cramman said at the conclusion of a brief Immigration and Refugee Board hearing at the Dartmouth General Hospital. The Canada Border Services Agency wanted to deport Fliss Cramman after she was convicted of a drug offence in 2014 and served 27 months in prison.īut in an unexpected move, Immigration Minister John McCallum intervened in the high-profile case Friday, saying the 33-year-old mother of four could stay in Canada as a permanent resident, based on humanitarian considerations. HALIFAX-Canada’s immigration minister has granted permanent residency to an ill woman who was born in Britain but grew up in Canada under difficult circumstances, citing compassionate grounds in an unusual case that raised questions about what it means to be a Canadian.