Hard to say how I feel about this. If this man was recruited to Canada, worked, was injured on the job... Should we not allow him to stay?By JASON HALSTEAD, SUN MEDIA
A paraplegic Winnipeg man is fighting deportation back to his native England.
Chris Mason, 35, who has lived in Winnipeg since 2001 and lost the use of his legs while residing here, is set to be put on a flight back to Manchester today.
"I'm trying to fight deportation right now and I'm seeking church refuge," he said.
Along with his lawyer, Hafeez Khan, Mason said he was in contact with immigration officials yesterday.
"It's been a fighting situation and an everlasting one," Mason said. "If I go back to England I don't know what's going to happen."
Mason, who came to Canada on an employment visa as a truck driver, said he has had his application to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds turned down by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
"My lawyer says he can't believe it," Mason said. "We submitted a very good application."
Mason said the response from immigration officials cited his lack of employment and ties in this country as grounds for refusal.
"But I have a lot of support around me, and if I went back to England I wouldn't have anything like that," he said.
If deported, Mason said he would reside in Manchester with his mother, but he would prefer to stay in Canada.
"It has become my home," he said. "I really love living here, I love the people. I have friends, I have people around me."
A spokeswoman for Canada Border Services Agency could not specifically comment on Mason's case yesterday, but said "it is imperative for the integrity of this system that once individuals have exhausted all avenues, they respect our immigration laws and leave Canada."
"In cases where there are medical concerns, CBSA officials will consult with medical professionals and rely on their expertise to determine if a person is in a condition to travel," she said.
Mason lost the use of his legs in 2001, when he was working as a truck driver.
"Herniated vertebrae discs put pressure on my spinal cord, and that put me in a wheelchair," he said.
Mason then undertook job shadowing with Reimer truck lines to train for work as a dispatcher, but he eventually was able to return to driving in 2003 in a modified truck. However, he was struck by a taxi in 2003, injuring his shoulder and forcing him to stop working as a driver.
Mason said he was denied benefits by Manitoba Public Insurance for his injuries sustained in the 2003 accident.
Mason has been on social assistance since the 2003 accident.
"I feel ashamed about it but it's the only way I've been able to survive," he said.
On the other hand he has been a burden for many years. His argument he has no one back in England does not wash with me.
Should he stay or should he go?
