Fliss Cramman's father calls deportation push a 'death sentence'

Fliss Cramman's father says the federal government's push to deport the 33-year-old woman to the U.K. is a "death sentence"

Cramman is currently in immigration detention in the Dartmouth General Hospital while she recovers from bowel surgery. Until Thursday, she was shackled to her bed to keep her from running away, a practice condemned by the health minister.

Cramman faces deportation after serving a stint in federal prison.

Cramman's father, Stevan Cramman, now works as a chef at a burger restaurant in Stratford, Ont., and said he hasn't seen his daughter for years.

'She'll just hit rock bottom'

He's afraid for his daughter's life if she's deported to the U.K.

"She'll just hit rock bottom over there," he said. "She'll go back on the drugs again and she won't last maybe a month, two months."

"It's a death sentence," he said.

Stevan Cramman said his mother and sister still live in England, but that his daughter has only met her grandmother once since childhood.

He says she's alienated those relatives over the years with demands for money, and is no longer in touch.

'The wrong thing to do'

Cramman has four children and the eldest two were adopted by an Ontario woman. She said deportation would deprive the girls of any chance of forging a relationship with Cramman when they are adults.

"She's lived all of her life in Canada except for eight years. It's just the wrong thing to do," the southern Ontario woman said.

CBC News has agreed not to identify her to protect the privacy of Cramman's daughters, now aged 15 and 16.

"I find it very sad for them. Because everybody in my opinion needs to know where they come from and who they come from," the adoptive mother said.

Three of Cramman's four daughters have been adopted by families in Ontario. Another family has legal custody of the youngest child.

'She's quite personable'

The adoptive mother who spoke to CBC News first met Cramman when the 17-year-old girl came into her home as a foster child.

"I got close to her. She's quite personable," the woman said.

"She really, in my opinion, didn't have the best of teenage years, so that affects you in the end."

Troubled childhood

CBC News has examined documents from Cramman's immigration file. Those contain credible evidence of extreme sexual violence she suffered as a teenager outside her home.

The report also details a troubled time in federal prison, including two assaults while incarcerated in Ontario.

According to a decision by the Parole Board of Canada, her 27-month sentence was for drug trafficking, breaching probation, breaking and entering, theft over $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

Cramman also was caught with homebrew, and admitted to taking crystal meth while in custody.

After arriving at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro, Cramman's behavior improved, the report says.

However, she was involved in another fight last November.

The report concludes that while Cramman was motivated to earn her GED while in prison, she neglected other areas of her programming.

"She has made little to no progress, and lacks motivation to make any type of sustainable change," the report says.

Coming to Canada

Stevan Cramman said he came to Ontario from Nottingham, England, with his ex-wife, Heather Holden, in 1991.

At first, his daughter thrived.

"Before we divorced, she was doing awesome. She was really doing good at school, good at athletics," he said. "She had everything going for her."

Stevan Cramman said his daughter's behaviour deteriorated, so she was placed in foster care, eventually becoming a ward of the state.

Assurances from child welfare officials

He said when he began to contemplate a move back to the U.K., child welfare officials assured him his daughter would become a Canadian citizen.

"They said, 'Oh yeah, before she's 18 we'll make sure she has Canadian citizenship. That's for her safety, that's for her safeguard,'" he said.

The Elizabeth Fry Society has said Cramman never knew her immigration status until she was in the federal prison system, but Stevan Cramman disagrees. He said he remembers talking to his daughter about citizenship when she was in her mid 20s.

"We had chats years ago that one of these days we have to get citizenship together. And she was, 'Oh yeah we could go and get citizenship together and get it done.' That was the plan," he said.

'Paying the piper'

He also said he warned her about the consequences of a serious conviction.

"Like I said to her, you have to be careful. Whatever you do, if you start serving time, you're going to end up paying the piper," he said.

The Elizabeth Fry Society has said it's dangerous and inhumane to deport a woman with serious addictions, plus mental and physical illnesses to a country she hasn't lived in since she was a child.

"Fundamentally, our position at Elizabeth Fry is that Fliss is a Canadian by all intents and purposes," said Emma Halpern, regional advocate for the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.

Fliss Cramman's next immigration detention hearing is Oct. 21.