20 years or so ago I started my career in immigration law -as a refugee protection officer. Even then the IRB/RPD was faced with increasing demand and limited resources. Our little Calgary office had to take on files from Toronto, Montreal and other offices. At that time we were able to do so with expensive polycom videoconferencing equipment. Even then there were concerns on the part of counsel and claimants; technology at that time was not as smooth shall we say as present.
Fast forward to the pandemic and the cancellation of hearings for months. I remember those days coming to the office with zero traffic and looking at the see-through office towers of downtown Calgary trying to figure out how the practice of immigration law will adapt.
Hearings re-started and the IRB and Fed Crt adopted and adapted to video conferencing. After conducting 100+ hearings in the last couple of years in this manner it's sometimes difficult remembering how we used to walk over to the depressing brutalist inspired architecture (and apparently asbestos filled) of Harry Hays to run hearings there.
I assume remote hearings are here to stay and they have added not detracted from our ability to advocate. Now the sponsored person can be seen and not just heard in marriage appeals or other family class appeals; the refugee claimant is in the familiar environs of her counsel's office where she's been prepared; and we can navigate hundreds of pages of a CTR, the applicant's record and of course DoJ material from our own office with all the amenities and resources that we can bring to bear. This is the new face of justice and while there may be challenges and hiccups along the way, this is the new reality.
Comments