The Supreme Court of Canada in October issued its decision in R v. Tran, a case which Peter litigated. Deanna, Peter and Steve discuss the issues that the Supreme Court addressed in this landmark decision, including whether conditional sentences are terms of imprisonment for the purposes of deportation and retrospectivity in law. This was the first of two Supreme Court cases that Peter arguedin Ottawa this year. While he was in Ottawa for the second case, he joined Michael Spratt and Emilie Taman, the creators of the Docket, a fantastic podcast about criminal law in Canada. Peter, Emilie and Michael discussed all sorts of issues regarding the intersection of immigration and criminal law, and Peter even explained how he got into practicing immigration law.
Borderlines Podcast #38 – R v. Zora – The Supreme Court of Canada Addresses Breach of Bail Conditions, with Sarah Runyon
R v. Zora is a 2020 Supreme Court of Canada decision involving the criminal offence of breaching bail conditions. It is relevant in the Canadian immigration context as individuals who are convicted of this crime in Canada, or who are convicted of or commit an equivalent offence abroad, are inadmissible to the country. Steven and Deanna are joined by Sarah Runyon, who was counsel for Mr. Zora at the Supreme Court. We discuss how bail works in Canada, the offence of breach of bail conditions, and the implications of the Supreme Court decision.
Borderlines Podcast #37 – The Closure of the Canada – US Border and the Supreme Court’s DACA Decision, with Andrew Hayes
Andrew, Deanna and Steven discuss the closure of the Canada – US border during COVID-19 and how the agreement has been implemented in the two policies, recent Executive Orders regarding immigration, and the United States Supreme Court decision in Department of Homeland Security et al v. Regents of the University of California et al. Andrew Hayes is a US immigration lawyer who practices in Vancouver. His website is www.usborderlaw.com 2:00 -The closure of the Canada – US border 25:00 – Recent Executive Orders pertaining to immigration in the United States 45:00 – The DACA decision
Borderlines Podcast #36 – The Canadian Immigration Consequences of COVID19
Deanna Okun-Nachoff and Steven Meurrens discuss how COVID19 has caused havoc to Canada’s immigration system, including border closures, operational slowdowns and the suspension of litigation proceedings.
Borderlines Podcast Episode 35 – The Implications of the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in Vavilov
Vavilov v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) is a 2019 Supreme Court of Canada decision in which the Supreme Court of Canada outlined a new framework for the standard of review in Canadian administrative law.
Borderlines Podcast #34 – Canada and the Compact for Migration, with François Crépeau
François Crépeau is a Professor at the McGill Faculty of Law and the Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. He was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants from 2011 to 2017. Peter Edelmann and François discuss migration issues generally, the Compact for Migration, and its implication for Canadian immigration and refugee law. This episode was recorded before Peter Edelmann was appointed to the British Columbia Supreme Court. 4:15 – What does a UN special rapporteur on migration do? 8:00 – What impacts could climate change have on the future of global migration patterns? 10:37 – How does Canadian refugee law address the issue of climate refugees? 21:00 – What led up to the Compact on Global Migration and what preceded it? How has migration historically been monitored / governed on a global scale? 28:00 – What is the international definition of a refugee? 31:3– What percentage of migrants would qualify as refugees? 33:30 – What is the Global Compact on Migration?
Borderlines Podcast #33 – Where Canada’s Political Parties Stand on Immigration
An overview of the immigration platforms, and general historic policies, of Canada’s political parties. 1:45 – Where do the parties stand with regards to letting provinces decide who immigrates? 13:28 – Immigration levels 23:30 – What are the promises with regards to border security and the Safe Third Country Agreement? 36:00 – Temporary Foreign Workers 42:00 – Application fees 46:00 – Settlement services and values tests 48:00 – Where parties can work together on and general trends.
Borderlines Podcast #32 – Keep Out the Poor – How Canada and the US Address Immigrants on Welfare, with Andrew Hayes
A comparison of how the immigration systems of Canada and the United States each deal with the issue of immigrants and social assistance. How similar is the “public charge” rule in the United States and “financial inadmissibility” in Canada? What is a sponsorship bar? Can permanent residents be deported for imposing a fiscal burden on the state? Andrew Hayes is a US immigration lawyer who practices in Vancouver. 00:30 – How does US immigration law and policy development work? 1:45 – What is the public charge rule? 2:30 – What is an affidavit of support? 4:00 – Does the United States have a points based economic immigration system? 5:40 – What are the concerns about Donald Trump’s changes from a substantial impact? 8:00 – What is the Low Income Requirement in Canada? Is there a similar requirement in the United States? 11:00 – There are often situations where the sponsor of a family member may be poor, but the breadwinner of the family is the prospective immigrant. How does Canadian and American immigration law account for this? 13:00 – Are affidavits of support usually enforced? What about sponsorship undertakings? 23:00 – How does financial inadmissibility work in Canada? 25:30 – … Read More
Borderlines Podcast #31 – How Much Does Immigrating Matter on Which Officer or Judge You Get? with Sean Rehaag
Sean Rehaag is an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. His academic research focuses on empirical studies of immigration and refugee law decision-making processes. Sean, Deanna, Peter and Steven discuss his quantitative research which has used large data-sets to study extra-legal factors that influence outcomes in Canadian refugee adjudication. Does immigrating to Canada, getting refugee status or winning a judicial review simply depend on the luck of who decides your application?
Borderlines Podcast #30 – Excluding Family Members from Immigrating vs. Compassion, with Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Jamie Chai Yun Liew is a law professor at University of Ottawa and an immigration lawyer. She acted for the Canadian Council for Refugees as intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in Kanthasamy v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration). She can be found on Twitter @thechaiyun Jamie, Peter, Deanna and Steven discusses humanitarian & compassionate considerations in Canadian immigration law, including the Supreme Court of Canada decisions in Baker and Kanthasamy. We also discussed Regulation 117(9)(d), which excludes unexamined family members from future sponsorship, and the recently announced pilot to mitigate the impact of this exclusion. 2:45 – What is Regulation 117(9)(d)? 6:30 – What is a Family Member? 7:00 – What does it mean to be “examined” for immigration purposes? 7:30 – What are the consequences of someone’s ability to immigrate to Canada if they have an inadmissible family member? 14:00 – How does IRPR r. 117(9)(d) work to exclude immigration? 15:45 – Why would someone not declare a family member when they immigrate? 26:00 – What options are available to bring a family member excluded by Regulation 117(9)(d) to Canada? 33:00 – What is the difference between a humanitarian & compassionate application vs. a family sponsorship? 36:00 – What was the Supreme Court of Canada decision in … Read More