Borderlines

Warda Shazadi Meighen is an immigration lawyer in Toronto and the founder of Landings Law. Canadian immigration legislation states that adoptions that can lead to immigration must create a legal parent-child relationship and sever the pre-existing legal parent-child relationship.Many Islamic countries have adoption, or guardianship, regimes based on kafala law, by which adoptive parents become the sponsor or guardians of a child, but the pre-existing legal parent-child relationship is not severed. As a consequence, adoptions from many Muslim countries are not recognized under Canadian immigration law. Warda has launched a Charter challenge to change this.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Chai Yun Liew is a Professor at the University of Ottawa and the author of Ghost Citizens - Decolonial Apparitions of Stateless, Foreign and Wayward Figures in Law. In this episode we discuss statelessness, which is when someone does not have citizenship in any country because of the operation of law. We discuss how people can become stateless, citizenship revocation, the Federal Court of Appeal decision in Budlakoti, how lack of documentation can lead to lack of citizenship, challenging statelessness, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Tao is a Canadian immigration and the founder of Heron Law Office.In January 2024 Justice Crampton, the Chief Justice of the Federal Court released a decision where he ruled that what constitutes “espionage” in Canadian immigration law must evolve “as hostile state actors increasingly make use of non-traditional methods to obtain sensitive information in Canada or abroad, contrary to Canada’s interests.”He held that it was reasonable for a visa officer to determine that a prospective Chinese PhD student, Mr. Li, was inadmissible to Canada for espionage because he may in the future be targeted and coerced by the Chinese government into providing information that would be detrimental to or contrary to Canada’s interests. There was nothing to suggest that Mr. Li has a present or future intention to provide such information to the Chinese government. Rather, the concern was future coercion or co-opting.Later that month, the Government of Canada’s announcement of a New Policy on Sensitive Technology Research

Douglas Judson is a lawyer in Ontario who practices in litigation. He can be found on Twitter @dwjudsonIn this episode, we are taking a break from immigration and discussing defamation law, which is the law around communications about a person that tends to hurt their reputation. We are focusing on one of the defenses to defamation lawsuits, which is Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP. Many provinces, including British Columbia and Ontario (and if you have watched the Jon Oliver episodes, many jurisdictions in the United States) have anti-SLAPP laws designed to encourage public discourse about matters in the public interest. Mr. Judson recently represented the plaintiff in Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al v. Webster, 2023 ONSC 7050, where the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had to determine if using the term "groomer" to refer to members of the 2SLGBTQI and drag community attract the protection of Ontario's anti-SLAPP laws. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

Pantea Jafari is lead counsel at Jafari Law, which she opened in 2012. In this episode, we discuss IRCC's response to the crisis in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Details of the program that is the subject of our discussion can be found on IRCC's website at canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/israel-west-bank-gaza-2023/canada-tr-measures.html. Our discussion focuses on the temporary measures in place for Palestinians who live in Gaza, and are seeking to reunite with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident relative who lives in or intends to live in Canada. In addition, we discuss the open work permits for Israelies, comparisons between Gaza and Ukraine, consequences of Canada abiding by a possible ICJ ruling that Israel comitted genocide, antisemtism and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robin Seligman is the founder of Seligman Law, an immigration law firm in Toronto.In this episode we discuss Canada's business immigration programs, including a history of the Immigrant Investor Program and Entrepreneur Program, the current Start-Up Visa Program, and difficulties that entrepreneurs face in coming to Canada to start businesses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Greene, K.C. is an immigration lawyer in Calgary. He served as the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship & Immigration Section in 2000-2001. He is representing Jaskirat Singh Sidhu in his immigration and deportation matters. We discuss the Federal Court decision in Sidhu v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2023 FC 1681. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a repost of episode 56. We discuss issues involving the deportation of long term permanent residents for criminality.5:45 - What are the grounds for deporting a permanent resident for criminality?13:00 - How does the appeal process work?17:00 - What are the factors in deportation.19:00 - An overview of the history of the law involving the deportation of permanent residents.26:00 - What is the probability of success for a permanent resident in avoiding deportation once proceedings start?36:00 - Stays of removal41:00 - Strategies and tips for responding to procedural fairness letters involving removal.Michael Greene, K.C. is an immigration lawyer in Calgary. He served as the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship & Immigration Section in 2000-2001. He is representing Jaskirat Singh Sidhu in his immigration and deportation matters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tamara Mosher Kuczer is the Founder & Principal Lawyer of Lighthouse Immigration Law Professional Corporation. She can be found on Twitter @ttrrmk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deanna Okun-Nachoff, Erica Olmstead, Erin Roth, Kamaljit Kaur Lehal and Laura Best discuss compassion fatigue in the practice of refugee law and how they avoid burnout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mason v. Canada was a Supreme Court of Canada decision which assessed whether inadmissibility on security grounds for engaging in violence required a nexus to national security. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“When and why did Canada develop the legal powers to detain and deport immigrants?” This is the question asked by Simon Wallace, a PhD Student at Osgoode Hall Law School and refugee lawyer, in his paper published in Queen’s Law Journal titled “Police Authority is Necessary”: The Canadian Origins of the Legal Powers to Detain and Deport, 1893 – 1902. The paper can be found here - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4497377 Mr. Wallace joins us today to discuss the origins of Canadian deportation law and its initial targeting of Romanian Jewish refugees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raj Sharma is an immigration lawyer in Calgary. In Borderlines Podcast Episode 69 we discussed his case Mohammad v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 1, in which the Federal Court quashed an Immigration Appeal Division decision, stating that the IAD did not properly give enough weight to the unique contributions that Ms. Mohammad made as a health care worker during COVID-19, and the debt that was owed to her. The IAD disagreed with the Federal Court, and Raj Sharma sought judicial review again. The case, and today's episode, provides an insight into how redetermination works, and the degree of deference that visa officers and the IAD need to show the Federal Court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Best is an immigration lawyer practicing in Toronto. We discuss refugee resettlement and Canada's housing crisis, as well as whether Canada's housing shortage is impacting support for immigration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There has been an increase in security screening in Canadian visa applications for residents of several countries.Chen v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 885 is the first Federal Court of Canada decision to discuss mandamus in the study permit context. Mandamus applications are actions to the Federal Court of Canada to compel IRCC to conclude the processing of a delayed application. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a historical deep dive on Order in Council PC 1911-1324, an Order in Council from 1911 which stated that for a period of one year black people would not be permitted to immigrate in Canada because the Canadian government deemed them unsuitable to Canada's climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Tao is a Canadian immigration and the founder of Heron Law Office. During this episode we discuss what got Will into immigration law, why he started his own firm, how he balances client files, advocacy and family life, whether he will take paternity leave after his second child is born, whether he thinks it is possible to take lengthy sabbaticals, his approach to practice and his general apporach to the practice of law. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a joint recording of Borderlines and Ask Kubeir, a popular YouTube channel about Canadian immigration news and updates, hosted by Kubeir Kamal, a regulated immigration consultant in Toronto.We discuss how obtaining Canadian permanent residence is becomming more difficult for several groups, including recent international graduates, as well as how some immigrants feel let down by the high cost of living and the inability to get their credentials recognized. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jandu v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 1787, was a decision where the Federal Court quashed several visa refusals and misrepresentation findings for truck drivers. The case raised several interesting issues, including the roles of Service Canada and IRCC in assessing genuineness, and what documentation visa officers can reasonably expect work permit applicants to provide. Rafeena Rashid and Jelena Urosevic were counsel for the refused truck drivers. 3:00The facts of Janndu11:00Conflicts when representing employers and employees. 13:00The lack of communication between Service Canada and IRCC when it comes to work permit applications. 20:00Assessing genuineness. 23:00Unreasonable documentation requests. 28:00Lessons from the case for future work permit applications. 37:00The distinction between a lack of genuineness and a finding of misrepresentation. 54:00What is the line between misrepresentation and lack of genuineness? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean Rehaag is an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, the Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies and the Director of the Refugee Law Laboratory.Today we discuss his use of GPT to conduct legal research, artificial intelligence and decision making, differential results in Federal Court and Immigration and Refugee Board decisions, and how to identify if differential outcomes are actually a problem or significant.2:00Using GPT to conduct research. 14:00Issues with unreported decisions or decisions lacking precedential value. Do all decisions need to have precedential value given that it results in inconsistent jurisprudence? 19:00AI making decisions vs. AI helping to write decisions. 22:00Bias in decision making in LGBT claims around physical appearance. 28:00AI leading to uniformity in decision making. 38:00The receptiveness of the Federal Court to research into judicial decision making. 42:00Forum shopping as a result of judicial research. 46:00Should AI play a role in helping judges write dec