LYING OUR WAY TO CANADA—-PART 2
LIES REVEALED: In July, 2009, after residing in Toronto for about 2 years, I discovered why my wife so badly wanted to stay in Canada and thus was badgering me to remain in spite of the fact that I wanted to return to Israel where I had my permanent job and home. On July 3, 2009, an old neighbor in Israel contacted me and alerted me of news that my wife had had an affair in our family home in Israel. In the end, she aborted that man’s child.
That news broke in our Israeli neighborhood while we were on our vacation in the USA and Canada. Even before this, she had decided not to return due to the shame she felt. But she kept all of this to herself. When I told my wife what our neighbor had reported to me, she confessed and explained to me that was why she did not want to return to Israel.
Around this time, my wife started attending a church and the pastor started counseling us knowing that we had lied to stay in Canada. I insisted on returning to Israel so she decided (to herself) that her chances of staying in Canada would be better if she claimed that I was abusive towards her and our kids. When I finally decided to return to Israel without her approval, she again refused. But now she added that if I ever revealed the secret of how we got to stay in Canada, she would tell the police that I was an abusive husband and I would be sent to jail while she stayed in Canada. All of these lies in our marriage and news of her affair resulted in our marital breakdown. I realized she was using the kids as a tool because she knew I was a father who loved his kids. I was advised to let her move to an Abused Women’s Shelter so that we could get subsidized housing to help us with our accommodation and to enable us to save some money, but I declined. I did so because I felt guilty about lying even more.
None of us worked in Toronto all the time that we lived there. On December 26th, 2010, when she saw that I still wanted to move back to Israel, but that I would not move back without alerting Citizenship and Immigration Canada of our fraud and apologizing, she went to the church she had been attending. The pastor had advised her to go to the Abused Women’s Shelter the next day and all arrangements were made for her to do that. She had decided that she would be better off financially by doing this. I do not know what expenses were covered and what income she was receiving at the Abused Women’s Shelter. But I do know that she would have subsidized housing and aid from social workers, lawyers, and counselors. I also know that our two youngest children would be able to attend day care there in the shelter and that this would be paid for by the Ontario government. I have no information whatsoever about what goes on in the shelter. She offered to take our two older kids together with our two much younger ones to the shelter. However, the two older kids refused to go with her.
Because my wife had claimed to be a battered woman, a claim which was never true, the Children’s Aid society (CAS) now entered our lives—with the potential to remove the two older kids from their home with me. All this was happening because my wife had told the CAS that the two older children were not safe with me. But after the CAS interviewed the children and me, and concluded that my wife’s statements were not true, the CAS left the children with me. Eventually, the CAS closed their file and, upon my request, sent me copies of everything they had investigated.
There was no Police involvement in our family until I found out that my wife had come to my house one day and taken the two oldest of our children to the Abused Women’s Shelter in Toronto. I contacted the Toronto Police at Scarborough (Eglinton East) and spoke to Officer Omsby. My wife was apprehended. She informed the police that she was going to remain in the shelter and that the two older kids could leave and return to me.
However, not long after this, a new phase began in my life. I started getting invitations to court about custody and support. I knew what was going to happen since the Canadian system favors women. Upon contacting the Police who saw her lies about my alleged abuse, etc., I decided to come clean and leave.
I therefore contacted the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency), CIC (Citizenship and Immigration), and IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board) and willingly vacated my refugee status. I told them my true identity and that I wanted to return to Israel. I was scrutinized thoroughly. Eventually, CBSA allowed me to leave with my two older children. The CBSA wouldn’t allow the three of us to leave while we were still classified as convention refugees. It’s now been five months since we left Canada.
I went through hell going to and from GTEC (the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre). In addition to my vacating hearing, CBSA interviewed me and my two older kids to make sure they really wanted to return with me instead of staying with their mother. I now live peacefully in Israel with those two oldest kids. The CBSA currently has my wife’s original Israeli Passport.
At this point, Legal Aid Ontario is paying for a proceeding in Toronto Family Court on whether our two youngest kids (who were born in Canada) can come and join those with me already in Israel. My ex-wife is fighting to keep them in Canada. She hopes that she will succeed in filing a Humanitarian and Compassionate application based upon the fact that she is afraid of coming back to Israel because of me and that she has two Canadian-born kids with her. The Family Court proceedings are still going on due to the fact that Canada’s Department of Immigration and the Ontario government are not doing their job effectively and thus allowing her to use the system to keep the kids there even though those kids are entitled to Israeli Passports and to go to Israel. I have recently heard that she vacated her refugee status in mid-October.
I have read many reports about Immigration and refugee fraud in Canada and regret every bit of fraud that I committed. I apologize to Canada. During the hearing at which I vacated my status willingly, I gave a letter of apology to the panel member and to the CBSA officer (Ms. Sharon Thomas, the CBSA officer). The files on my ex-wife and I were separated that day.
To give readers an idea of how much Canada was paying for our stay, the following will provide a good picture : At the time I and my two oldest children left, I was receiving $589.26 in CCTB (Child tax benefits), $256 in GST and $354.56 in OST benefits. I also received $1656 from the social services for basic needs and shelter. Last but not least, we received free medical.
The amazing thing is that although I left Canada on May 7th 2011, when I went online at the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) website about a week later, I found out that the CCTB would be depositing the child tax benefit on the 20th of the month as usual. “O my God”, I said to myself. “They are going to do that even though I am not even living in Canada any more.” I e-mailed a very respectful woman who was at my vacate hearing and asked her what to do. She told me to call the CRA which I did. The man I talked to asked me many questions because he did not believe that I was out of the country till I hit hard. Finally, he agreed to cancel all three of the benefits (CCTB, OST and GST) that the CRA was responsible for. In the next few days when I went online, I found out they had been cancelled.
I also called and faxed my Social worker in the Ontario Social Services office. Because she knew me, she agreed to cancel the benefits (Shelter, Basic needs and medical ) that I and my two oldest children were receiving.
My point here is that the left hand in Canada does not know what the right hand is doing. When my status was vacated, no one from anywhere alerted all the offices (which had been giving financial assistance to us) to cancel the assistance and therefore it continued coming !!!
Thank you for reading this.
