Albert v. Canada (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2013 FC 351

• Judge: Gleason, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: March 14, 2013
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: 2013 FC 351;(2013), 430 F.T.R. 185 (FC)

Albert v. Can. (2013), 430 F.T.R. 185 (FC)

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2013] F.T.R. TBEd. AP.010

Fazaa Albert (demandeur) v. Le Ministre de la Sécurité Publique et de la Protecion Civile (défendeur)

(IMM-8035-12; 2013 CF 351; 2013 FC 351)

Indexed As: Albert v. Canada (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness)

Federal Court

Gleason, J.

April 8, 2013.

Summary:

The applicant, a citizen of Lebanon, was a long-time member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP). He made a refugee claim in Canada, alleging that he was at risk in Libya based on his membership in the SSNP. The Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board issued a deportation order against the applicant on the basis that there were reasonable grounds to believe that he had been a member of the SSNP and that the SSNP was a terrorist group. The Immigration Division determined that the applicant was inadmissible under ss. 34(1)(c) and (f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The applicant applied for judicial review.

The Federal Court dismissed the application.

Aliens - Topic 1747

Exclusion and expulsion - Immigration - Exclusion - Particular persons - Members of a subversive, espionage or terrorist organization - [See Aliens - Topic 1756 ].

Aliens - Topic 1756

Exclusion and expulsion - Immigration - Exclusion - Particular persons - Persons engaging in terrorism - The applicant, a citizen of Lebanon, was a long-time member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) - He made a refugee claim in Canada, alleging that he was at risk in Libya based on his membership in the SSNP - The Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the ID) issued a deportation order against the applicant on the basis that there were reasonable grounds to believe that he had been a member of the SSNP and that the SSNP was a terrorist group - The ID determined that the applicant was inadmissible under ss. 34(1)(c) and (f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) - The applicant applied for judicial review - The applicant argued that the ID's finding was unreasonable because he was in no way complicit in any terrorist attack the SSNP was allegedly engaged in - Further, he argued that the finding that the SSNP was a terrorist organization was unreasonable - The Federal Court dismissed the application - It was evident from the wording of s. 34 of the IRPA that the concept of complicity had no impact on determining whether there were reasons to believe that a person was a member of a terrorist organization as part of an investigation relating to inadmissibility under that section - The concept of complicity came into play only when it had to be determined whether a person was a Convention refugee despite the provisions of s. 98 of the IRPA, which incorporated into the Act the grounds for exclusion from the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees - The ID's findings that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant was a member of the SSNP, and that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the SSNP had engaged in terrorism, were reasonable.

Cases Noticed:

Poshteh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2005), 331 N.R. 129; 2005 FCA 85, refd to. [para. 5].

Miguel v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2012), 414 F.T.R. 260; 2012 FC 802, refd to. [para. 9].

Saleh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2010), 363 F.T.R. 204; 2010 FC 303, refd to. [para. 9].

Ismeal v. Canada (Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), [2010] F.T.R. Uned. 121; 2010 FC 198, refd to. [para. 9].

Tjiueza v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2009] F.T.R. Uned. 833; 2009 FC 1260, refd to. [para. 9].

Omer v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2007] F.T.R. Uned. 301; 2007 FC 478, refd to. [para. 9].

Al Yamani v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2006), 304 F.T.R. 222; 2006 FC 1457, refd to. [para. 9].

Mugesera et al. v. Canada (Ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration), [2005] 2 S.C.R. 100; 335 N.R. 229; 2005 SCC 40, refd to. [para. 11].

Charkaoui, Re, [2007] 1 S.C.R. 350; 358 N.R. 1; 2007 SCC 9, refd to. [para. 11].

Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2002), 281 N.R. 1; 2002 SCC 1, refd to. [para. 16].

Kablawi v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2010] F.T.R. Uned. 591; 2010 FC 888, refd to. [para. 18].

Statutes Noticed:

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, sect. 33, sect. 34 [para. 7]; sect. 98 [para. 8].

Counsel:

Anthony Karkar, for the applicant;

Michèle Joubert, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Anthony Karkar, Montreal, Quebec, for the applicant;

William F. Pentney, Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, for the respondent.

This application was heard on March 14, 2013, at Montreal, Quebec, before Gleason, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following decision on April 8, 2013.