Date: 19990730
Docket: IMM-506-99
BETWEEN:
SURENDA ARUNACHALAM TERESA
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
| (Delivered orally from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario on |
Friday, July 30, 1999)
LINDEN J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of an immigration officer"s rejection of the sponsored applicant"s request to remain in Canada based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. In the recent case of Mavis Baker v. MCI,1 the Supreme Court of Canada issued a wide-ranging decision dealing with all aspects of the process involved in the consideration of humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
[2] In my view, pursuant to the standard of reasonableness simpliciter as set out in the Baker case, supra, the immigration officer failed to take sufficiently into account important affidavit and other evidence tendered by the applicant concerning the various names that she, because of the religious sensitivities of her husband, had to utilize. Further, it does not appear that the immigration officer sufficiently considered the social and cultural context under which women may be forced to adopt new or multiple names. The Baker case requires that such evidence now be considered by the immigration officer.
[3] The immigration officer placed undue weight on the failure of the applicant to supply a translation of a "National Identity Card" which was requested, and which was thought to have been capable of resolving the confusion regarding the applicant"s various names.
[4] While I recognize that immigration officers do excellent and difficult work, the changing legal landscape now demands even more of them.
[5] In the result, I would allow the application for judicial review, quash the decision below, and remit the matter back to be decided by a different immigration officer who may rely on existing evidence, or, if thought advisable, admit new evidence by either party to assist in the resolution of this case.
"A.M. Linden"
JUDGE
TORONTO, ONTARIO
July 30, 1999
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: IMM-506-99 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: SURENDA ARUNACHALAM TERESA |
| - and - |
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
| DATE OF HEARING: FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1999 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| REASONS FOR ORDER BY: LINDEN J. |
DATED: FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1999
APPEARANCES: Mr. I. Francis Xavier
For the Applicant
Mr. Godwin Friday
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: I. Francis Xavier
Barrister & Solicitor
2401 Eglinton Avenue East
Suite 210
Toronto, Ontario
M1K 2M5
| For the Applicant |
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date:19990730
Docket: IMM-506-99
Between:
| SURENDA ARUNACHALAM TERESA |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
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