Corralled and Sent Home
July 06, 2006Over the Canada Day long weekend, I wrote a letter to the Montreal Gazette in response to their editorial about Yves Bourbonnais, the former Immigration and Refugee Board appeals division judge who has pleaded guilty of receiving bribes. I'd like to elaborate on a few of the points I raised in the Gazette.
The editorial in the Gazette suggested that some of Bourbonnais' past decisions as a judge should be reviewed, and that those people who paid him bribes to stay in Canada should be 'corralled and sent home'.
Unfortunately, the editorial also seems to ignore the cases where the opposite is true; that is, cases where people with valid refugee or immigration claims did not pay a bribe to Bourbonnais and were subsequently 'corralled and sent home'. If justice is to be served, shouldn't all of Bourbonnais' decisions be reviewed?
In many refugee cases, applicants are allowed to remain in Canada if they have a legitimate fear of persecution back home. What if many of the cases presented before Bourbounnais were from applicants with a credible fear of persecution but a lack of money with which to influence Bourbonnais' decisions? If that is indeed the case, we ought to bring back to Canada those who were unfairly deported.
And perhaps reviewing Bourbonnais' cases is not enough. Since the new Immigration and Refugee Act was enacted in 2002, all refugee appeals are now heard by a single judge rather than a panel as done in the past. While it is true that Bourbonnais' violations occurred under the old legislation, his story is still a cautionary tale for the use of a single judge in cases involving refugee claimants who are at the mercy of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board.
Having more than one judge review a case is an excellent protection against corruption. That's important, because corrupt judges don't only let unscrupulous characters stay in Canada; they also 'corral and send home' those who deserve to stay.
Blog written by David Cohen on Thursday, July 06, 2006
1 Comments:
At last a blog with someone on "our side" I am trying to get my fiance of Thailand here. We tried 2 times for tourist visa..we dont know about marriage, just want to see how we get along in Canada. They refused. Tried the 3rd time as me as a sponsor, BECAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY...he failed the interview and didnt understand why. I spoke to the interviewer at Canadian Embassy Bangkok...he asked do you want to marry? I thought this was casual conversation..I said MAYBE ONE DAY, NOT NOW..he entered this in the computer file of my fiance, 3 months later we try again for tourist visa armed with more papers, he is turned down because now in the computer it states he wants to marry me. When I enquired how to take this totally inaccurate information off the computer, and this is unfair if we split and he meets another girl...the officer said it is there for life...why doesnt Canada just charge a bond fee, $10,000.00 or what have you..if they are so worried the person wont return...or issue one month visa's only up to 6 maximum and then you have to marry or go to the next step. They do get too involved and the Bangkok office is run by one man who over see's all applicants and plays god...he is making Canada look bad because he does not behave or make judgement according to regulation but according to his own whim. He has created a reputation in Thailand as the Evil one, because he doesnt even care if you meet paper requirements as stated and regulated, he decides himself and if you met him you would realize this position is a big ego trip and not about fair practise or doing his job correctly. But anyone in Thailand wanting a visa is at his mercy and the government of Canada doesnt care because this is just one of many Embassy in the world...
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