Doumbouya v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)

• Jurisdiction: Federal Jurisdiction (Canada)
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Judge: Shore, J.
• Citation: (2007), 325 F.T.R. 186 (FC),2007 FC 1186
• Date: 18 September 2007

Doumbouya v. Can. (M.C.I.) (2007), 325 F.T.R. 186 (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: [2007] F.T.R. TBEd. NO.020

Kelety Doumbouya (demanderesse) v. Le Ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration (défenderesse)

(IMM-242-07; 2007 CF 1186; 2007 FC 1186)

Indexed As: Doumbouya v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)

Federal Court

Shore, J.

November 15, 2007.

Summary:

Doumbouya, a citizen of Guinea, applied for an exemption, based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, from the requirement to obtain an immigrant visa abroad which would have allowed his application for permanent residence to be processed in Canada (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 25). An immigration officer refused to grant the exemption. Doumbouya applied for judicial review.

The Federal Court dismissed the application.

Administrative Law - Topic 266

The hearing and decision - Right to a hearing - Persons not entitled to a hearing - [See Aliens - Topic 1206 ].

Aliens - Topic 1206

Admission - Immigrants - General - Upon compassionate or humanitarian grounds - Doumbouya, a citizen of Guinea, applied for an exemption, based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, from the requirement to obtain an immigrant visa abroad which would have allowed his application for permanent residence to be processed in Canada (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 25) - An immigration officer refused to grant the exemption - Doumbouya applied for judicial review - The Federal Court, applying the reasonableness simpliciter standard, dismissed the application, holding that the officer's decision contained no reviewable errors and was not vitiated by a breach of natural justice - The immigration officer applied the proper criteria in her analysis of the risks that Doumbouya alleged would cause him to suffer unusual, undeserved or disproportionate hardship if he had to apply for a visa abroad - The officer's reasons were sufficient - Her conclusions regarding the risks of return to Guinea were reasonable - Doumbouya's right to be heard was not violated by the officer's failure to interview him before making her decision - Such interviews were not required to ensure procedural fairness in processing s. 25 applications, and in any event, the officer in this case did not base her decision on Doumbouya's lack of credibility.

Cases Noticed:

Lin v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2005] F.T.R. Uned. 586; 2005 FC 960, refd to. [para. 1].

Serda et al. v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 209; 2006 FC 356, refd to. [para. 6].

Kawtharani v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 99; 2006 FC 162, refd to. [para. 7].

Singh Sahota v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2007] F.T.R. Uned. 334; 2007 FC 651, refd to. [para. 8].

Sahota v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) - see Singh Sahota v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration).

Legault v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2002), 288 N.R. 174; 2002 FCA 125, refd to. [para. 8].

Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817; 243 N.R. 22, refd to. [para. 21].

Sandrasegara v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2007] F.T.R. Uned. 346; 2007 FC 498, refd to. [para. 21].

John v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2007] F.T.R. Uned. 291; 2007 FC 468, refd to. [para. 22].

Harb v. Canada (Ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration) (2003), 302 N.R. 178; 2003 FCA 39, refd to. [para. 23].

Pannu v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 924; 2006 FC 1356, refd to. [para. 39].

Blanchard v. Control Data Canada Ltd., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 476; 55 N.R. 194, refd to. [para. 48].

Donkor v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) (2006), 299 F.T.R. 262; 2006 FC 1089, refd to. [para. 48].

Camara v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 86; 2006 FC 168, refd to. [para. 53].

Herrada et al. v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 897; 2006 FC 1003, refd to. [para. 57].

Bui v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2005] F.T.R. Uned. 492; 2005 FC 816, refd to. [para. 71].

Étienne et al. v. Canada (Ministre de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration), [2003] F.T.R. Uned. 786; 2003 FC 1314, refd to. [para. 72].

Bouaroudj v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 864; 2006 FC 1530, refd to. [para. 73].

Monteiro v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2006] F.T.R. Uned. 755; 2006 FC 1322, refd to. [para. 75].

Statutes Noticed:

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, sect. 25(1) [para. 5].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Canada, Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Immigration Manual, c. IP-5, para. 13 [para. 36].

Counsel:

Johanne Doyon, for the applicant;

Normande Lemyre and Zoé Richard, for the respondent.

Solicitors of Record:

Doyone & Associés, Montréal, Quebec, for the applicant;

John H. Sims, Q.C., Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondent.

This application was heard on September 18, 2007, at Montréal, Quebec, before Shore, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following reasons for judgment on November 15, 2007.