IN THE NEWS- A Courtenay resident who had been facing deportation Monday to her native Zimbabwe has received an 11th reprieve from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Grace Mukadzambo, 38, who arrived in Canada four years ago and has been in Courtenay since June 2021, hold down four jobs in the social services sector. Among other things, she has been working in a recovery house for women, and providing residential support for individuals with disabilities. She has bee sending about two-thirds of her earnings to support her brother and mother in Zimbabwe.
Mukadzambo had been awaiting a decision on an application for permanent residency, but was then told she was scheduled to be deported from Edmonton this week. The community and elected officials rallied behind her by appealing to federal agencies and raising money to help pay legal fees.
She gives a special thanks to Bozenich for mobilizing the community, to Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns for "putting in the work" and responding to her cry for help, to media outlets, to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser and his team, and to Morin and Courtenay council.
Johns, whose office had been pleading her case since November, commended his staff for working overtime in their bid to keep Mukadzambo in Canada.
"It's tremendous to see the camaraderie and the solidarity in support of her request," Johns said