Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Calgary Immigration Law Firm Blog

Practicing Immigration Law in the Time of COVID-19

I have practiced immigration law for over 17 years; prior to that I was a Refugee Protection Officer -sort of tribunal counsel to the RPD -the largest Division within the IRB, itself the largest administrative decision making tribunal in Canada. COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic was an unprecedented disruption to the practice of law, and immigration law in particular. As one example, this is the longest I’ve gone without conducting a hearing. Many assumptions will have to be set aside as suspending Court and tribunal operations is simply not an option. Gathering all parties together, in one room, is simply not necessary nor frankly desirable. Remote hearings have now been conducted or scheduled by the IRB and the Federal Court and, like the first days of spring after a long winter, there are signs that immigration adjudication and processing is re-starting. “Zoom” has now entered the legal community’s lexicon and it was a pleasure appearing before Justice Zinn a couple of days ago on a judicial review matter that had to be post-poned. Two more remote Federal Court hearings are in my calendar in a week or so. Nevertheless, backlogs have necessary increased. Beyond litigation, every business line... Read more →

Judicial Review -Allegations of Bias Against an IAD Board Member

I was taken aback reading a recent Federal Court decision (setting aside an IAD sponsorship appeal). To say that I'm deeply concerned with these remarks would be an understatement. Justice Zinn didn't have enough before him to assess whether Ms. Anselm is biased -but the requisite numbers can be easily put together. IAD Board Members hold the fate of couples and families in their hands. It should go without saying that they need to approach immigration appeals with an open mind. [23] In addition to the submission based on the unreasonableness of the decision, it was submitted that there is a perception of bias on the part of the person making the decision for the IAD. Evidence was filed that this person allowed two out of 21 appeals under Section 28 of the Act, and three out of 35 appeals under Section 4 of the Regulations. While these numbers suggest there may be merit to counsel’s plea that there was nothing that could have been said that would have resulted in this Panel accepting the appeal, I am unable to draw that conclusion. It cannot be drawn without more evidence as to the average number of appeals allowed, and the... Read more →

Summary of the recent decision striking down the STCA

History Safe Third Country Agreement between US and Canada – in effect since Dec 2014  CDN and US declare each other as safe for refugees  Applies to refugees arriving from US at a Canada land POE … with some exceptions (family member in Canada, unaccompanied minors, stateless individuals) First legal challenge to the constitutionality of STCA in 2005 2007 - Justice Michael Phelan of FC found that the designation of US as safe third country violated refugees’ Charter rights to life, liberty, and security of person 2008 – Government appeals the finding. Justice Phelan’s decision is overturned. Later ... leave for SCC denied. Ongoing calls for Canada to end safe third country agreement with US … US less safe than ever for refugees especially after the Trump Administration beefed up its deportation and detention of asylum seekers. Treatment of asylum seekers in the US is not keeping with the spirit/objective of STCA The Decision  Enforcement of STCA results in ineligible claimants being imprisoned by US authorities  US is not a safe country for refugees sent back from Canada due to risk of imprisonment – conditions asylum seekers said they had faced while in detention in the... Read more →

Interview: Raj Sharma with Danielle Smith -Safe Third Country Agreement Unconstitutional

Discussed the recent Federal Court decision finding the Safe Third Country Agreement to be in violation of the Charter. Court_rules_Canada-U_S_Safe_Third Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · July 24, 2020 Interview with Danielle Smith -Court Rules Canada - U S Safe Third Announcer: The Immigration Advocates podcast, brought to you by Stewart Sharma Harsanyi, one of Canada's largest dedicated immigration law firms. Contact us today regarding immigration to Canada or your immigration problem at [email protected], or call us toll free at +1 855-900-3398. Danielle Smith: Federal court rules that the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement is unconstitutional. So, the Federal Court's rule... And you know how that is, right? Let me use a real life example, because who's coming across at Roxham Road? It's folks who are coming largely from Nigeria. We even had our immigration minister go to Nigeria to do public information campaigns. And then, no, no, no, no, you can't come across this way. But landing in New York, getting driven across the border. And part of the reason that's done is because they wouldn't be able to get through a regular border crossing. A regular border crossing, they'd say, "No, no, no, you landed in America. You've... Read more →

Transcript -July 2, 2020 Interview on the Danielle Smith Show Discussing Changes to the Foreign Worker Program and AINP

Danielle Smith: There was a, there's a major announcements that the premier did on some Monday, Tuesday, sorry. Mondays are running together. Can't even remember what day it is, but you've got a staff holiday in the middle of the week. … I think it was Tuesday a major announcement and he had a number of different aspects to the economic recovery plan. I admit I have, I've never been in sync with the premier on his approach to temporary foreign workers and the provincial nominee program. I at CFIB, we did lots of studies on the issue of immigration and temporary foreign workers and easing the pathway, because I know it's hard to believe, but even in these hard times where people, where we have high unemployment rates, there are still certain jobs that will go unfilled unless we rely on temporary foreign workers to build and -look at the whole sector that we're seeing in farming operations. Danielle Smith: So now you've got the premier announcing this week, that that program is going to be curtailed - the other bar aspect that I've disagreed with the premier on is to me, the temporary foreign worker program is the... Read more →