A Quebec widow whose husband died after being accidentally run over by his mother last year is now facing more misfortune: deportation back to her native Belgium because her sponsor was her husband.
Sophie Thewys met her husband Nicholas Faubert ten years ago but the 43-year-old only arrived in Quebec with her 18-year-old son in 2014. The couple also has a six-year-old daughter.
On Christmas Eve, Faubert's mother drove up to his house and accelerated instead of braking, hitting and killing her son.
After a three year process, Thewys's request for permanent residency was given the greenlight but was recently rejected because her now dead husband wasn't there to sign the papers.
NDP MP Matthew Dubé has taken up her cause of his Mont-St-Hilaire constituent.
"She's still able to prove that she is financially and socially self-sufficient, that none of the criteria that she met have changed despite the tragedy that the family is going through," said Dubé in an interview with CJAD 800 News.
"I think exceptions need to be made and I think that sometimes discretionary powers should to be exercised and I think it's unfortunate that this case was looked at so coldly and those exceptions weren't made."
Dubé said they're looking at all options including appealing the decision.
"The grandparents would lose a granddaughter, they would lose their daughter-in-law, the family unit depends on this and obviously with the kids being in school and everything, there's even more factors to consider on top of the criteria they already met before," said Dubé.
Over 1200 people so far have signed an on-line petition supporting the family.