For 10-year-old Ryleigh Ridland it’s been a long wait for a family hug — on Canadian soil.
She embraced her new family on Friday upon arriving at Vancouver’s airport, ending the protracted legal fight with both the Canadian and South African governments to get her to this country after the tragic loss of her own mother in South Africa.
“I’m feeling very excited to be here in Canada with my family,” she said, her voice wavering as she recounted the long wait to take both her first plane rides and steps in Canada.
“I’ve been waiting. It was kind of hard.”
Ryleigh and her great-aunt Lisa Pyne-Mercier, 53, left Johannesburg for Paris on Wednesday, then after a layover flew to Vancouver. They then headed home to Shawnigan Lake, B.C., about 30 kilometres north of Victoria.
The girl had been in foster care ever since her mother’s sudden death in 2021.
Ryleigh Ridland, 10, runs to her new family upon arriving at the Vancouver airport on Friday. Four years ago, she was found alone on a remote South African farm, roughly a week after her mother had died. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Ryleigh, then seven years old, was found all alone in stifling heat on a remote rural property on Jan. 9, 2021, near the South African town of Tzaneen, about 360 kilometres northeast of Pretoria.
Her mother, 31-year-old Jackie Ridland, had died at least eight days earlier of natural causes, according to authorities.
Somehow Ryleigh had survived alone in 40 C heat. She was taken to hospital and treated for malaria, dehydration and malnutrition.
Pyne-Mercier, originally from South Africa herself, fought for four years to bring her to Canada.
She was confirmed as the child’s legal guardian by a South African High Court on June 28, 2022. But Pyne-Mercier says she’s faced many administrative hurdles trying to bring the girl to Canada.
The main sticking points include the fact that the girl’s father still lives in South Africa, and that her mother had named Pyne-Mercier as Ryleigh’s guardian in her will, making the case unusual, as most adoptions involve a more direct family member being named guardian.
WATCH | Victory after 4-year legal battle:
B.C. woman wins fight to bring great niece to Canada from South Africa
2 months ago
Duration 2:06
A B.C. woman is one-step closer to reuniting with her great niece after four years of court battles to get permission for the girl to immigrate to Canada from South Africa.
Pyne-Mercier spent thousands of dollars on a legal push to win guardianship and full parental rights in South Africa so Ryleigh could join her in Canada, but the High Commission of Canada in South Africa turned down Ryleigh’s applications for permanent resident status in Canada and a study permit in January 2023.
The High Commission initially ruled that Ryleigh didn’t meet the definition of an “orphan” under Canadian law since her biological father is alive. Under South African law, however, she was considered an orphan due to abandonment, as her father had waived all parental rights after divorcing Ridland in 2016.
Toronto immigration lawyer Michael Battista took over the case in 2023. He was preparing for a hearing in February when news came that Ryleigh could finally apply for permanent residency.
“The needs of a child sometimes are very urgent, and the international adoption process is cumbersome and expensive and time consuming,” said Battista in an interview Friday.
He said this case illustrates the complexity of international adoptions, especially by non-direct relatives.
“The question for us here in Canada is how how much flexibility are we going to give to those relationships, particularly when there’s a situation of urgency and peril that requires recognition of a family member that can, take care of another family member who’s in trouble,” he said.
Ryleigh runs into the arms of Chloe Pyne-Mercier, her new sister, on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Battista used a section of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to try to get around the Hague Convention — which protects children adopted internationally — and bring Ryleigh to Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
But he credited Pyne-Mercier as “diligent, tenacious and fearless” for her fight to bring her great-niece home.
“She’s been a model and very inspirational to to me and I think to all parents,” said Battista.
Today, an exhausted Ryleigh said she’s eager to meet new friends and teachers and to play in the snow.
“This is a Canadian treasure right here. The things she’s going to do in this country, for this country, it’s just amazing and we want to say thank you,” said Pyne-Mercier.
She said after such a long journey, there was a moment that stood out.
“What really got me was when the [customs] officer said, ‘Congratulations you are now a Canadian citizen.’ That to me was like, wow, it’s worth it. [Ryleigh] did a happy dance then.”
Ryleigh says she’s eager to meet new friends and teachers and to play in the snow. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
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.
