I Stand in Line for Thee...

The short stories are loosely based on true events. All the names of the characters have been changed, and any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. The main character Simeon Hippolyte Vadeboncoeur (Mr. Goodheart) resurfaces in almost all the stories and represents the public servant of Canada. He does not evaluate immigration files case-by-case, and the applicant behind his voluminous documentation gets lost and is forgotten. The public servant always finds the pertinent law or regulation and makes his decision without considering any particular circumstances in the file. His decision affects the destiny of the applicant, yet some of them manage to outsmart the public servant using debatable strategies