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Since Len Van Heest was deported to the Netherlands on March 6, he calls his mom on Vancouver Island every morning to find out how his favourite teams are faring.

The Raptors. The Penguins. The Blue Jays. He wants all the results.

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The ritual has helped keep the 59-year-old with bi-polar disorder focused and stable despite the upheaval in his life that came when he was sent back to a country he left as a baby.

His Victoria lawyer Peter Golden is still hopeful Van Heest will be allowed to return to B.C. despite a string of convictions for uttering threats, assault and mischief related to his mental illness.

A nine-month sentence he received triggered his removal from Canada. His fate now rests in the hands of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.

Van Heest, who doesn’t speak Dutch, is living in a Salvation Army shelter in Amsterdam.

“Len, from what I understand, was really scared when he got off that airplane. He was perspiring. He was agitated. The person that (Canada Border Services Agency) said was going to give him a room — a family friend — was in Australia,” Golden said.