She was nearly ripped from her three-year-old daughter, but in a sudden reversal, a Toronto personal support worker who faced deportation despite having worked on the front lines during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic can now stay in Canada permanently.
After going public with her story, Fatumah Najjuma has won her fight for permanent residence.
On Friday, she received word that her permanent resident application on humanitarian grounds was granted.
“This means a lot to me because I have been given a chance to live, stay and raise my baby girl,” Najjuma told CBC Toronto, thanking her lawyer, advocates, her friends and the many strangers who supported her.
“As I am her only living parent, she is going to grow up a happy child because her mother is present in all her life.”
Najjuma, 29, had been facing deportation to Uganda — a country she says she fled for her life after being disowned by her family and for her religious and social affiliations.
Her deportation date had been set for Jan. 7. But after garnering tens of thousands of signatures in an online petition, a campaign by advocacy groups and telling her story to CBC News, her removal was delayed in late December.
Now, her fight is over. But she says she remains concerned about the countless others who find themselves also facing deportation despite Canada’s commitment to work towards granting status to undocumented workers.
“I shouldn’t have to fight for basic rights,” she said. “Everyone deserves status so we can live a good life. I encourage all migrants to speak up and raise their strong voice.”
‘Over 30 people being deported every day’: advocate
Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change shares that concern.
“Thousands of people signed petitions, joined protests and Fatumah bravely spoke up to ensure that her family can now access basic rights that permanent resident status allows but there are over 30 people being deported every day,” he told CBC Toronto.
“It doesn’t make sense to create exceptional measures for each person; we need systematic changes and that means full and permanent immigration status for every migrant including workers, students, refugees and undocumented people.”
Canada had been pressing forward with Najuma’s deportation despite Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s mandate, which includes working to “further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.”
For three years, Fatumah Najjuma worked as a personal support worker in Toronto, including during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Submitted by Fatumah Najjuma)
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada recently told CBC Toronto that work remains underway, but that it could not comment on programs or policies under development.
That means while a change could soon be coming to ease the path to permanent residence for those in Najjuma’s position, she could have nevertheless been deported while the specifics are ironed out.
Najjuma’s win comes after the end of deportation nightmare for another personal support worker, Nike Okafor, and her son, who faced removal after 19 years in Canada.
As CBC Toronto recently reported, their nightmare finally ended in December, when they got word that their permanent resident application had been approved.
Nike Okafor’s family was nearly torn apart as she faced deportation with her eldest son, Sydney, right, after 19 years in Canada. (Submitted by Nike Okafor)
‘The storm is over’
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told CBC Toronto tens of thousands of temporary workers transition to permanent status each year. Of the 406,000 foreign nationals who became permanent residents in 2021, it says nearly 169,000 of them transitioned from worker status.
Asked why it was removing someone who had an application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds still under way, the Canadian Border Services Agency previously told CBC Toronto it cannot comment on individual cases for privacy reasons, but that it has a legal obligation to remove those who are inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and who have removal orders in force.
“The decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly,” the CBSA said, adding the agency only acts on a removal order “once all legal avenues of recourse have been exhausted.”
That’s despite a federal court judge ruling last year that suggested applicants who have worked as health-care aids or on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic deserve special consideration.
“The moral debt owed to immigrants who worked on the front lines to help protect vulnerable people in Canada during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overstated,” Justice Shirzad Ahmed wrote.
As for Najjuma, the news that her own fight is over means she can now envision a stable future for her and her daughter.
“I am going to tell my daughter that the storm is over,” she said. “We have nothing to worry about anymore, we have our peace and freedom now.”
LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
