For those living in Canada without immigration status, life can be difficult. There are many reasons why these individuals ended up here. A good portion would have left their country of origin with little financial resources, sometimes because it was no longer safe for them, or perhaps because they had no prospects for a good [...]

On September 2, the U.S. Justice Department brought a lawsuit against Joe Arpaio, an Arizona sheriff from Maricopa County who is best known for his aggressive crackdowns on illegal immigrants. The Justice Department had been investigating Mr. Arpaio’s division after critics alleged that the sheriff’s arrest sweeps amounted to racial profiling against Hispanic individuals. Negotiations [...]

In December of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney General of Ontario appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) decision, Mavi v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 ONCA 794 [Mavi]. At issue in the OCA decision was how the government should behave when enforcing promises, [...]

On September 24, 2008, Judge Simon Noël of the Federal Court (FCC DES-5-08) the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Ministers of Public Safety and Citizenship and Immigration to “file all information and intelligence related to Mohamed Harkat including but not limited to drafts, diagrams, recordings and photographs in CSIS’s possession or holdings with [...]

With recent cases having taken great prominence both here at TheCourt.ca and likewise in the wider media, Lake v. Canada (Minister of Justice) 2008 SCC 23 has gone somewhat overlooked. This is unfortunate, because the case creates firm precedent for the appropriate standard of care required of the Minister of Justice in an extradition case [...]

A central objective and guiding principle in Canadian immigration policy has been the management of migration flows. At the core is a balance between two broad interests; state sovereignty and security versus the basic human right to mobility and to shelter from persecution. While the first set of interests has historically dominated in Canadian immigration [...]

A fallen international businessman has, until recently, split his time between Parliament hill and a humble detention centre in west Toronto. He was recently granted bail by the Ontario Court of Appeal for $1.31 million dollars. The reputation of a former and sitting Prime Minister hang on his words. While his fate in turn rests [...]

For most people hoping to be heard by the Supreme Court, the denial of leave marks the end of their legal battle. However, for the American soldiers who have fled to Canada in an attempt escape the horrors of fighting in a war with which they fundamentally disagree, the denial of leave has only changed [...]

On February 23, 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision from the appeal of my client Mohammed Harkat, which was argued at the same time as the Charkaoui and Almrei cases. The SCC ruled that the procedures used to determine the reasonableness of security certificates under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act violated [...]

On Friday, October 26, 2007, the SCC granted leave to appeal in the case of Khosa v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 FCA 24. This immigration and administrative law case concerns a convicted street-racer facing deportation back to his home country of India. History In 1982, Mr. Khosa was born in India. He [...]