The diagnosis of a serious illness is already quite heavy to bear. Imagine if you should be taught in addition that you cannot be treated properly; this is what a French immigrant living in Quebec faces.
Suffering from breast cancer, Isabelle Chevalme is slowly recovering from a mastectomy that turned her life upside down. She started radiation therapy a week ago, but will be forced to end it prematurely.
If the RAMQ refuses to cover the rest of the treatment costs, the couple’s temporary work permit will expire at the end of the month.
“We waste time on treatment. If it doesn’t work by April 30, we will have to go. I can’t let her die, ”says her partner, Philippe, his throat tied with emotion.
The renewal of this permit must first go through a Quebec acceptance certificate. Philippe’s employer, located in La Malbaie, however sent the form in February.
“This is unacceptable. These papers usually take three weeks to arrive. It’s been over two and a half months. It is serious what will happen to them, ”explains Josée Gervais, Philippe’s employer and owner of the artisanal bakery Pains d’exclamation.
Due to the pandemic, an extended delay puts the whole system in idle. Result, the couple finds themselves today at the foot of the wall.
“There are millions of us having a deadline, the system is overloaded, idling. Isabelle and I, on April 30, we will have to leave, ”adds Philippe.
“If the federal government is involved, I will immediately contact Ottawa to see what can be done as quickly as possible,” said Pierre Paul-Hus, the Conservative MP for Charlesbourg, the county where the couple resides.
For these immigrants, time is running out.
“Canada has to take us right away because we don’t have time to play. It is not a flu, it is far from being a joke, ”concludes Philippe Blanchard.
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