Court opens door to immigrant debt relief

Things change. Relationships end. But when it comes to immigration sponsorship, since 2004, a sponsor's responsibility can go on and on. The deal is: when you sponsor someone to immigrate to Canada, you sign a document that says if they have to go on public assistance for any reason, then YOU have to pay the government back for it. No matter what the situation may be. Since 2004, no one has been eased of this responsibility - not for any reason. Today, Ontario's Court of Appeals said, wait a minute - there needs to be some discretion here. The government owes it to it's citizen's to look at situations on a case by case basis. "The federal and provincial governments had argued that sponsorship was a contract the sponsor should be fully aware of and there was no discretion to forgive the debt, regardless of marriage breakdown, unemployment or illness." Of course they did. The court didn't buy it. Three cheers for a court that realizes life throws curves at people. That things are rarely black and white, and that real justice is a very individual matter.