Date: 20050714
Docket: IMM-10339-04
Citation 2005 FC 965
BETWEEN:
Jorge Jose Gonzalez Jiménez
Maria Teresa Cervantes Rocha
Priscila Graciela Gonzalez Cervantes
Francisco Alejandro del Toro Cervantes
Alexandra del Toro Cervantes
Applicants
-and-
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board ( the IRB), dated November 23, 2004, that the applicants are not "Convention refugees" or "persons in need of protection" as defined under sections 96 and 97, respectively, of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27.
[2] Jorge Jose Gonzalez Jiménez, Maria Teresa Cervantes Rocha and the children Priscila Graciela Gonzalez Cervantes, Francisco Alejandro del Toro Cervantes and Alexandra del Toro Cervantes, are all citizens of Mexico. Gonzalez Jiménez was designated to represent Priscila, 8 years old, and Cervantes Rocha was designated to represent Francisco Alejandro, 15 years old. They allege that they fear the judicial police because of Cervantes Rocha's activities.
[3] The IRB did not believe the applicants' story and, in that regard, set out its reasons in a manner that was sufficiently clear and comprehensible (see Hilo v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1991), 15 Imm.L.R. (2d) 199 (F.C.A.)).
[4] For example, the female applicant responded that neither she nor her husband nor anyone from her organization had appealed to the media because there was no protection. She also responded that nobody had contacted the media because they protect each other. It was not unreasonable for the IRB to determine that these explanations were implausible. An organization, or a member of such an organization, wanting to file a complaint of child abuse, abuse ordered by a public administration VIP, attempting unsuccessfully on more than one occasion to have a complaint filed by the department, would have done its best to have the media expose it.
[5] Further, the panel noted that when they arrived in Canada, the applicants had intended to return to Mexico and that they therefore waited several months before claiming protection from Canada. That additional element affects the credibility of the alleged fear. It is the responsibility of the person in question to claim protection as soon as possible when he or she is in a country able to offer its protection and the delay in doing so can be considered in assessing the credibility of the claimant's story (see Skretyuk v. Canada (M.C.I.) (1998), 47 Imm.L.R. (2d) 86 (F.C.) and Ali et al. v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (April 26, 1996), IMM-2402-95).
[6] The applicants justify their delay in making their claim by explaining that it was only on July 5, 2004, that their fear of being persecuted arose, after they received a phone call warning them not to return. In response, the respondent contends that it was not at all unreasonable for the panel to consider the applicants' delay in making a refugee claim since their arrival in Canada. I share that opinion. If all of the events that the applicants allege had actually occurred, including the death threats and the fact that the police wanted to kill them, and if these incidents forced them to leave Mexico, it is implausible that they would have come here intending to quickly return to Mexico.
[7] Generally, the inferences drawn by the specialized tribunal that is the IRB appear reasonable to me. Without necessarily endorsing all of the panel's analysis, the applicants failed to rebut the heavy burden to establish that the decision at issue is patently unreasonable, i.e. clearly irrational.
[8] For all of these reasons, the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Yvon Pinard"
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
July 14, 2005
Certified true translation
Kelley A. Harvey, BCL, LLB
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-10339-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: JORGE JOSE GONZALEZ JIMÉNEZ et al. v. MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: June 23, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER: Pinard J.
DATE OF REASONS: July 14, 2005
APPEARANCES:
Manuel Centurion FOR THE APPLICANTS
Suzon Létourneau FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Manuel Centurion FOR THE APPLICANTS
Montréal, Quebec
John H. Sims, Q.C. FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada