Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer is continuing to advocate for Qia Gunster, the young McBride man who remains a "stateless person" without citizenship.
"It's just been a tough situation, he's such a good kid," Zimmer said this week.
Gunster, 20, was born in Tuscon, Ariz. but his mother never registered his birth.
Apparently fearful her baby would be taken away from her, they moved to McBride when he was 18 months old.
When she returned to the United States, Gunster was raised by another family in McBride.
However, Gunster has not yet become a Canadian citizen which became particularly troublesome once he turned 18. He can't get a driver's licence, a passport or a social insurance number, which has hindered his quest to become a fully qualified electrician.
A lawyer working for the Access Pro Bono Society, a Vancouver-based organization that provides legal help at no cost, has taken up his case.
Both the lawyer and Zimmer have contacted Arizona officials to see if they can issue a birth certificate to Gunster. If that fails, they'll be asking Citizen and Immigration Canada to grant Gunster citizenship under "exceptional circumstances."
Gunster's case was one of the first files Zimmer began working on when he was first elected 4 1/2 years ago.
Zimmer described Gunster as a "nice young guy that wants to get on with his life."
He also had accolades for the community of McBride and its efforts to rally around him.
"It's one of those things that personally has mattered to me a lot," Zimmer said. "There have been a lot of other big announcements but this is one of those personal ones."
