Raj Sharma's Canadian Immigration Blog

The stay application

The motion record was filed today and served on the respondent by fax. The court has advised that the application will be heard by Madam Justice Snider at 11 am Wednesday. Fundamental to the stay is the nature and scope of the officers discretion to defer removal - and of course whether the refusal can be sustained upon review. Waldman's text provides a thorough resource for an application of this nature and I would recommend it to anyone contemplating this remedy. As always the federal court registry staff were very helpful. I'm looking forward to appearing before the Court again. Previous stay applications that I have worked on were predicated on a deferral pending the consideration of a pending H&C or spousal application which is a difficult argument. In this case there is more of a legal/jurisdiction issue. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Emergency stay applications.

I've posted on this topic before, and now I am again in the midst of putting together what is termed an emergency stay application. The client is facing the execution of a removal order and is scheduled for a flight out on Wednesday midnight. In this case a removal order was issued after the client was convicted of serious criminality. The order was stayed by the IAD however the stay was later terminated when there was a breach of terms and conditions. We have applied to reopen that IAD order and concurently requested CBSA to defer removal until a decision has been made by the IAD. Our deferral request was refused on Friday and an application to the federal court was filed that same day. The next steps are to put together what's called rule 35 letter and file the motion record and of course provide a copy to the department of justice. The hearing will be by teleconference and will likely take place on Wednesday. The client has been in Canada his entire adult life - over 20 years - and the stakes are high. Unfortunately other options were not explored in a timely fashion. I was retained on the 20th of this month and hope to succeed in my argument that removal should not take place given the outstanding legal issue. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Solo and small firm conference

I attended the solo and small firm conference out on by the Legal Education Society of Alberta last Friday. The conference was interesting in the sense that many of the innovations we've implemented were being talked about. One major initiative of the office is to scan most documents received and sent. The cost of a lost piece of paper is startling. Sending a copy to a client is just a matter of a couple of clicks. The much talked about paperless office is becoming a reality in many respects. For example, today I was able to put together a 180 page federal court applicants record which will be electronically filed. Besides the environmental considerations, there will be significant space and storage savings - as well as less courier cost. Maintaining several records per federal court application is simply not convenient. Solos tend to be entrepreneurial and for one reason or another have decided against what some call 'big law'. I find being a solo exciting and of course can be as innovative as I want without having to get 'buy in' from a partnership committee. Other useful technology for solos is the use of time and accounting software. Many options are out there. We use PCLaw which seems to be quite powerful. The internet has also provided an ability for solos to conduct thorough research for a low cost. My favourite is the canlii and federal court site for jurisprudence. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Refugee camp in Calgary

A mock refugee camp was set up in downtown Calgary last month. Canada is already one of the more generous asylum granting countries in the world. Unfortunately, millions continue to be uprooted by war and instability. A number of elementary school students were there as well and I'm sure the set up helped in their understanding the plight of the unfortunate. Personally, helping a refugee obtain status in this country is very rewarding considering the harsh situation in many parts of the world. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Federal court

This month has been very busy in terms of federal court applications. I have filed a number of applications in respect of 117.9.d refusals. Remember that an appeal to the IAD on such matters is unlikely to succeed. The only recourse is a review of the officers decision by the federal court. I have also just filed an application in respect of a refused overseas humanitarian and compassionate application. At the end of the month will be an attempt to judicially stay the removal of an individual slated to catch a flight out of Canada.

Statistically speaking, less than 20% of leave applications are granted. Once leave is granted, there is a higher probability of succeeding. The matter is returned to a different decision maker. The court does not substitute a different finding.

The stay is an extraordinary remedy and rarely granted.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Julie Couillard, Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board?

I was reading a globe and mail article - Christie Blatchford sat down with the (in)famous Julie Couillard, when the following leapt out at me:

The truth of her, or part of it, is that she is a ruthless pragmatist: She went after a job at the Immigration and Refugee Board, at Mr. Bernier's suggestion, because these are patronage jobs, and everyone knows it, so why not her? Same thing with her mother's job, on a body that hears complaints from unemployment insurance recipients. Bernard Côté, a former aide to former public works minister Michael Fortier (Mr. Côté quit when all this became public) suggested her mother apply; she did, and she got the job.

If this statement is accurate, then it means that the Immigration and Refugee Board has still not moved completely towards a true merit based appointment process. It also means that the IRB will continue to face difficulty and increased scrutiny in the decisions of those appointed through patronage.

The article talks about Ms. Couillards' work experience:

selling cars, waitressing, modelling, acting, studied hotel management and for a brief period, trained to be a dental hygienist

But unfortunately did not mention any legal experience or any in depth knowledge of refugee or immigration matters. What is sad is that it was entirely possible that such a person would be appointed as a decision maker presiding over the lives of the vulnerable.