Almrei v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) et al., 2005 FC 355

• Judge: Blanchard, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: March 11, 2005
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: 2005 FC 355;(2005), 262 F.T.R. 7 (FC)

Almrei v. Can. (M.C.I.) (2005), 262 F.T.R. 7 (FC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2005] F.T.R. TBEd. MR.031

Hassan Almrei (applicant) v. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and The Solicitor General of Canada (respondents)

(IMM-8537-03; 2005 FC 355)

Indexed As: Almrei v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) et al.

Federal Court

Blanchard, J.

March 11, 2005.

Summary:

Almrei, a Convention refugee from Syria, was found to be inadmissible for engaging in terrorist activities and a decision was made that he should be refouled to Syria. A delegate of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration determined that Almrei was not at risk of torture if returned to Syria so as to preclude his removal pursuant to s. 115(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and, alternatively, that his removal to torture was justified under s. 115(2)(b) because of the danger he posed to the security of Canada. Almrei applied to quash the delegate's decision and have his case remitted for reconsideration.

The Federal Court allowed the application.

Aliens - Topic 1645.1

Exclusion and expulsion - Immigration - Deportation - Grounds for - Danger to the security of Canada - [See both Aliens - Topic 1783 ].

Aliens - Topic 1783

Exclusion and expulsion - Deportation and exclusion of persons in Canada - Place of deportation (incl. deportation to place of torture (non-refoulement)) (IRPA, s. 115) - Almrei, a Convention refugee from Syria, was found to be inadmissible for engaging in terrorist activities - A delegate of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration determined that Almrei was not at risk of torture if refouled or returned to Syria so as to preclude his removal pursuant to s. 115(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and, alternatively, that his removal to torture was justified under s. 115(2)(b) because of the danger he posed to the security of Canada - Almrei applied for judicial review - The Federal Court allowed the application and remitted the matter for reconsideration where the delegate committed reviewable errors in assessing both Almrei's risk of return and the danger he posed to the security of Canada - With respect to her finding that Almrei would not in fact face a risk of torture in Syria, the delegate erred in failing to explain why she rejected a letter from Amnesty International which contradicted this finding - The delegate's decision respecting the danger Almrei posed to the security of Canada was not supported on the evidence before her, rather she relied on, inter alia, findings in prior decisions of the court respecting Almrei.

Aliens - Topic 1783

Exclusion and expulsion - Deportation and exclusion of persons in Canada - Place of deportation (incl. deportation to place of torture (non-refoulement)) (IRPA, s. 115) - A delegate of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration determined that Almrei was not at risk of torture if refouled or returned to Syria so as to preclude his removal pursuant to s. 115(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and, alternatively, that his removal to torture was justified under s. 115(2)(b) because of the danger he posed to the security of Canada - The Federal Court stated that decisions such as this were "... fact driven inquiries. The court must therefore adopt a deferential approach and intervene to set aside the delegate's decision only if it is patently unreasonable. This means that, for the court to intervene in a Minister's discretionary decision, it must be shown to be '... made arbitrarily or in bad faith, it cannot be supported on evidence, or the Minister failed to consider the appropriate factors. The court should not reweigh the factors or interfere merely because it would have come to a different conclusion'" - See paragraph 32.

Cases Noticed:

Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2002] 1 S.C.R. 3; 281 N.R. 1, refd to. [para. 22].

Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2000] 2 F.C. 592; 252 N.R. 1 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 25].

Jeyarajah v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (1999), 236 N.R. 175 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 39].

Ahani v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2002] 1 S.C.R. 72; 280 N.R. 201, refd to. [para. 14].

Cepeda-Gutierrez v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (1998), 157 F.T.R. 35 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 59].

Ozdemir v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2001), 282 N.R. 394 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 60].

Westray Mine Tragedy - see Phillips et al. v. Richard, J.

United Steelworkers of America, Local 9332 and Richard, J. v. Phillips et al. - see Phillips et al. v. Richard, J.

Nova Scotia Commission of Inquiry into the Westray Mine Tragedy - see Phillips et al. v. Richard, J.

Phillips et al. v. Richard, J., [1995] 2 S.C.R. 97; 180 N.R. 1; 141 N.S.R.(2d) 1; 403 A.P.R. 1; 39 C.R.(4th) 141; 98 C.C.C.(3d) 20; 28 C.R.R.(2d) 1, refd to. [para. 98].

R. v. Mills (B.J.), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 668; 248 N.R. 101; 244 A.R. 201; 209 W.A.C. 201, refd to. [para. 98].

Mahjoub v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) et al. (2005), 261 F.T.R. 95; 2005 FC 156, refd to. [para. 99].

Statutes Noticed:

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, sect. 115(1), sect. 115(2)(b) [para. 18].

Counsel:

Barbara Jackman, for the applicant;

Donald MacIntosh and Alexis Singer, for the respondents.

Solicitors of Record:

Barbara Jackman, Toronto, Ontario, for the applicant;

John H. Sims, Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondents.

This application was heard in Toronto, Ontario, on November 16 and 17, 2004, with supplementary submissions on January 20 and 28, 2005, before Blanchard, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following decision on March 11, 2005.