Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Expedited processing for LMO (BC & Alberta)

New announcement on Service Canada's site. The following 12 occupations have been identified for expedited LMO processing: Carpenters; Crane Operators; Hotel and Hospitality Room Attendants; Hotel Front Desk Clerks; Food and Beverage Servers; Food Counter Attendants; Tour and Travel Guides; Registered Nurses; Dental Technicians Pharmacists; Snowboard and ski instructors; and Retail Sales Persons and Sales Clerks. Great news for the above occupations, but still not broad enought to cover general construction workers and other labourers that Alberta employers desperately require. Read more →

“Inconceivable, Incomprehensible, Indefensible, Incompetent”

A 'brash' file memo of then prosecutor and now BC Provincial Court Judge James Jardine condemned the actions of the fledgling Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in erasing wiretap evidence concerning Talwinder Singh Parmar – suspected then and now of involvement, if not masterminding, the bombing of Air India’s Kanishka. Notwithstanding numerous requests by the RCMP and Jardine with the prosecutor’s office, CSIS balked at providing evidence that may have assisted in the prosecution of those thought to be behind the greatest act of terrorism against Canada and Canadians. It is beyond comprehension that a law enforcement department would have to have asked more than once for such evidence. Testimony before the Air India inquiry suggests that the erasure of the tapes were not done for any ‘ulterior’ purpose. James Warren, former head at CSIS of counter-terrorism apparently investigated the erasure and found that they were done following standard procedure for erasing tapes 10 days after the contents had been transcribed. So, it appears that CSIS wasn’t malicious in the destruction of the tapes -- just incompetent. A couple of questions do come to mind however: · What was the justification of CSIS policy to destroy tapes? It certainly couldn’t... Read more →

The Importance of a Good Lawyer

It may be that Lai Changxing, accused by the Chinese government of massive fraud and is probably their most sought after expat, truly understands the importance of a good lawyer. Changxing is represented by David Matas - a senior, distinguished, experienced and more than capable (some would say quixotic - but only in the best sense of the word) immigration/human rights lawyer who has managed to obtain another PRRA/review of risk against his client. Matas successfully impugned (from what appears to be) a massive, thorough PRRA decision (apparently close to 90 pages) that had rejected allegations of risk to the Federal Court. Matas was successful in arguing that the PRRA officer did not properly assess the risk of torture against his client. CIC was to have appealed the judicial review, but has now relented and has tasked another PRRA officer with reassessing Changxing's application. Changxing has been in Canada since 1999, and has so far stymied China's attempts to repatriate him. His refugee claim was denied some time ago, and it appears his remaining avenues to remain in Canada rest with the PRRA -- an extremely limited remedy, with a success rate (here in the Prairie region anyway) of less... Read more →

Canada's immigration and security weaknesses

I remember the first time I realized the weaknesses inherent in Canada’s immigration and refugee system. It occurred during my very first month as a Refugee Protection Officer, when I was screening a refugee claim referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Essentially, when a person claims for refugee protection either within Canada at an in-land CIC office (like the airport, or the CIC office at the Harry Hays building here in Calgary) or at the border, CIC has the responsibility to ensure that the individual is ‘eligible’ to make a refugee claim. Unfortunately, the eligibility determination relies mainly on information provided by the refugee claimant himself. At the same time, CIC does not have the ability to magically divine the true nature or background of the individual before them. A large number of refugee claimants come from countries such as Pakistan, where fraudulent documents (including passports and therefore new identities) are easily obtained. Once CIC determine the person is eligible to make a refugee claim, the file is transferred to the Immigration and Refugee Board, where the file is screened and (eventually) a hearing is set down and the claim is heard by an... Read more →