Sandra Jean Burke has lived, worked, paid taxes, raised three boys and even voted in government elections in Canada since her grandparents rescued her from a U.S. orphanage at age 6 and brought her here in 1951.
You'd think she'd have looked into it at some point. She knew she was born in the US. Anyone with any amount of common sense should have known she wasn't a citizen or landed immigrant.
Not necessarily. She was 6. You'd assume that either her grandparents had done it for her (although it was not a big thing back then) or they just didn't know. She never had the necessity, because she always assumed to be Canadian. She voted, had a SIN and a healthcard. How?
@wildrosegirl: In the article, she says she had no problem having all the "privileges" of a citizen. She even voted. How could she know that there was a problem with her status ?
For me, it's just another example that the bureaucracy is a mess. They stick with what the computer says and they do not care to get into problems like that because they do not want to get into a complicated situation like hers. Anyway, they are all unionized and all they want is have their pay on Thursday and have a quiet day. I really hate bureaucrats.
I suppose, but I would have thought with 3 sons, she'd have gotten married at some point (my bad for assuming) which is generally where these over-sights are caught.
I guess I'm just one of those people that would have made sure regardless, and forget that not everyone else is like that.
This has become a Quarterly story it seems. The Bureaucrats should just allocate a person to verifying this type of Claim and not have it being a monkey wrench in the system. How hard can it be to verify Tax Returns, Voter Registration, and what not? Might need some Legislation passed to deal with these cases I suppose, but it seems likely there will be many more as somewhere along the line the System accepted certain People as Canadian without having certain Forms/Records completed or issued.
She's paid the tax man all her life, and now it's his turn and he refuses. Lets bring some more immigrants in and pay for them. Let pay millions for our corrupt politicians.
She never had the necessity, because she always assumed to be Canadian.
She voted, had a SIN and a healthcard. How?
For me, it's just another example that the bureaucracy is a mess. They stick with what the computer says and they do not care to get into problems like that because they do not want to get into a complicated situation like hers. Anyway, they are all unionized and all they want is have their pay on Thursday and have a quiet day. I really hate bureaucrats.
I guess I'm just one of those people that would have made sure regardless, and forget that not everyone else is like that.