Earlier this week, we told you the story about Vicky Venancio, the Filipino temporary worker in Canada left paralysed by a traffic accident and her battle to stay in the country.
Turns out (as it usually does), our bare bones report was just part of a bigger story.
That story is about doing the right thing, a story with heroes (though none would ever call themselves that), a story about dignity and decency and the best parts of the human spirit. And be forewarned: it has–to this point–a happy ending.
It begins–at least the Canadian part of it–three years ago on a street in Edmonton, Alberta. A young and vivacious Filipino woman lies on the ground caught in a physical and emotional nightmare, hit by a SUV as she rode her bike to work at a fast food restaurant.
The accident left 26-year-old Maria Victoria Venancio, known to her friends as Vicky, with limited use of her hands and was diagnosed as a quadriplegic.
Because she came to Canada as a temporary foreign worker, the immigration rules dictated she must return to her native Philippines because, well, she could no longer do her job.
Her visa was not renewed and the federal government ordered her deported.
The Province of Alberta had previously denied her health benefits, saying it was unable to pay for her care as she didn’t have legal status.
But Ms. Venancio did not go gently. She and her supporters lobbied anyone they could, her friends held fund-raisers, and a lawyer named Chris Bataluk, who works at the Edmonton firm of Iginla & Company, got involved.
Last Friday Ms. Venancio’s story took a big turn for the better.
Federal Minister of State for Multiculturalism Tim Uppal contacted Ms. Venancio to tell her she’d been granted a work permit, meaning she can stay in Canada for two years.
The Alberta minister of health, Sarah Hoffman, quickly followed suit, announcing that Ms. Venancio was eligible for the same health-care coverage as any other Albertan, allowing her to pursue her physical rehabilitation.
I called Mr. Bataluk, Ms. Venancio’s lawyer, in Edmonton to ask him about the case.
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