Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Minister Kenneys comments having a 'Chilling effect' on IRB decisions

Another critical piece by Mr Butler on whether refugees have the deck stacked against them in Canada. To the best of my knowledge Mr Kenney is the only Minister that has made sweeping comments regarding the merits (or lack thereof) of refugee claims from particular countries. Comments from the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration carry weight. Remember that Members of the IRB are appointed by the GIC and are reappointed at the governments pleasure. It is no great stretch to imagine some influence by the Minister on a supposedly independent Board Member. ******************* Chill of ministerial comments erodes independence of Immigration and Refugee Board, former chair says By Don Butler, The Ottawa Citizen November 29, 2011 University of Ottawa law professor and former Immigration and Refugee Board chair Peter Showler says the ‘IRB and some of its members have discreetly deferred to negative comments by Immigration Minister Jason Kenny, and the Federal Court has not held the minister nor the board accountable.’ OTTAWA — The Immigration and Refugee Board describes itself as Canada’s largest independent administrative tribunal. But according to a former IRB chair, the board’s independence appears to be eroding. ... ...in the past couple of years, the board... Read more →

An ideological Federal Court and why it matters

The following is an excellent article by Don Butler. Unfortunately, Butler'ss article is not news to refugee lawyers. For refugees, justice depends on the identity of their adjudicator, not necessarily the merits of their case. Sean Rehaag, an academic, has also studied refusal rates of Refugee Board Members. In Calgary there are 2 Board Members that can be characterized as ideological. Refugee claimants will usually lose when they appear before this duo in this city. It's unfortunate that refugees face ideological barriers in addition to everything else. ****************************** Is there an ideological divide in immigration and refugee system? Research hints judges' decisions correlate with the party that appointed them By Don Butler, Postmedia News November 26, 2011 - Vancouver Sun Federal Court of Canada judges appointed by Conservatives are significantly less likely to overturn decisions by government officers and tribunals, to deny refugee claims or deport non-citizens, than are judges appointed by past Liberal administrations. And an applicant's likelihood of success diminishes even further if the appeal or review of their case is heard by judges named to the court in the past three years by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The findings come from an Ottawa Citizen analysis of 480... Read more →

Language Proficiency Requirements for Citizens

Raj Sharma debates Conservative Government MP Deepak Obhrai who supports additional requirement to be imposed on all applicants for Canadian Citizenship, even though available data indicates that it would be unnecessary. Read more →

4 Ways to Lose Your Permanent Residency/4 Formas de Perder la Categoría de Residente Permanente en Canadá

4 Ways on How to Lose your Permanent Residency in Canada. Read more →