Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Canadian Citizenship

I was contacted today by a very nice gentleman who has been denied his Canadian passport. Born on a Canadian military base abroad to Canadian parents, he returned to Canada when he was still a toddler. Raised and educated here, he also served this country in the armed forces. He's held a Canadian passport, and so was understandably shocked and upset when he was refused a Canadian passport a year or so ago. In summary, there are a number of circumstances where someone born overseas can 'lose' their Canadian citizenship. Thankfully, the Canadian government will be addressing this injustice in April of this year. Additional details can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/questions-citizenship.asp In these circumstances, while it makes sense to wait until the new legislation, it's still wrong for the government to deny someone status who is clearly entitled to it. My client has paid taxes for his entire life; lived here and raised his children here; served his country (as did his father); and has no other country to which he owes allegiance. In a perfect world, he would be getting his Canadian passport immediately, along with a letter of apology for the delay from the government. Unfortunately, he'll have... Read more →

...But Defeat Is An Orphan

I've obtained leave on a number of applications for judicial review (these applications were generally filed in October/November 2008). Unfortunately, I've had to file an application for leave and judicial review with respect to the application to vacate (where I attended at the RPD offices in Montreal last year). The application to vacate was granted and my client's status as a refugee was nullified. I believe that the judgment is deficient in a number of areas, but judicial review is a difficult, time consuming and resource intensive task. I will be before the Federal Court in March of this year on a couple of matters, including one that involves the exclusion of my client on the basis of Article 1Fa (war crimes) and the refusal of a sponsorship application because of the operation of s.117(9)(d). Read more →

Victory has a hundred fathers...

I'm happy to report that my client's claim for protection was accepted by the Refugee Board last week. One of the issues that arose was the issue of 'nexus'. In essence there must be a logical connection between one of the enumerated grounds of protection (race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group and political opinion) and the harm/persecution. One of the great resources for lawyers appearing before the Board is the RPD publication: Interpretation of the Convention Refugee Definition in the Case Law. Produced by RPD Legal Services, the publication is essential to getting familiar with the 'basics' - that is - the Convention Refugee definition, the general rules of interpretation, and other various issues and hurdles that frequently appear in refugee proceedings. Read more →

The IRB

I'm back at my old stomping grounds. The IRB will be moving soon and this may be one of my last trips to the fording place building. This afternoons proceeding is by way of video conference and the claim is against Nicaragua. Wish my client luck. Read more →