Nova Scotia woman awaits deportation to country she hasn't seen since childhood

After finishing a two-year prison sentence for being an accessory after the fact in a 2014 homicide, Debra Spencer finds herself living in a halfway house in Sydney, N.S., because she has nowhere else to go.

Except for one place: She may be deported to a country she hasn't visited since she was a child.

Born in the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the 32-year-old, who has lived in Canada for two decades, was ordered deported back to the Carribean country in the fall of 2015, following her conviction.

She's heard no word on when she might be sent, but fears what will happen if she is. 

"I don't have a place to live down there and I don't know any of my family. The only family I know is the one I have up here," she said.

"If I get on the plane and I get down there, where am I supposed to sleep?"

The deportation was ordered after Spencer pleaded guilty in 2014 to being an accessory after the fact in the homicide of David William Rose. Her boyfriend at the time, Bradford Beals, later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The pair had gone to buy drugs from Rose at a rooming house in south-end Halifax.

Tough upbringing

Spencer came to Canada in 1993 when she was eight years old after being adopted by a Nova Scotia family.

The family has said she suffered abuse and trauma in St. Vincent that resulted in cognitive and developmental delays.

Despite living in Canada for more than 20 years, Spencer remained a permanent resident and never became a Canadian citizen. Her adoptive mother has said Spencer faced so many struggles that citizenship wasn't a priority.

It's why Spencer was ordered deported as required under the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act. The law, introduced by the Harper government in 2013, states any permanent resident who commits a crime and receives a sentence of more than six months must be deported without the right to appeal.

Since she was ordered deported, Spencer has been living without access to health care, housing supports or income assistance. The Elizabeth Fry Society is currently covering her costs at its Sydney halfway house.

Emma Halpern is a regional advocate for the society. She said the fact Spencer has been living without basic rights and supports for so long is putting her at risk.

"I'm concerned that Debra might fall into a place where she feels so disappointed and so harmed by the various systems that are supposed to be there to support her that she will fall back into old patterns and be vulnerable to addiction and mental health challenges," said Halpern.

Similarities with Fliss Cramman case

The society has started a petition calling on the federal government to intervene in the deportations of both Spencer and another woman, Fliss Cramman, who like Spencer, came to Canada as a child, but never received Canadian citizenship.

Halpern said she is hoping for a ministerial stay of deportation in both cases, so the two women would be allowed to remain in Canada with friends and family "and be part of the fabric of Canadian society."

Spencer was stripped of her permanent residency following her deportation order. Her lawyer has filed an application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, and a pre-removal risk assessment, which allows people facing deportation the opportunity to describe the risks they believe they face if they are removed from Canada.

Looking for work

Both applications are attempts to get the deportation order overturned. Spencer's lawyer hasn't received a response to either application.

Spencer, who has two children here, was recently granted a work visa, so she's looking for a job and hopes to eventually get a small apartment of her own.

"I'd like to have my niece sleep over and my sister and maybe one day my little boy," she said.

"And if I have to show my family how good I am, I'll do it. And if I have to prove to the government here that I can change, I'll do it. If they could give me a second chance, I will prove to them I can stay up here and be good."