Law Times

Law Times • OcTOber 22, 2018 Page 3 www.lawtimesnews.com 'The stakes are really high' Immigration lawyers say report on IRB too mild BY DALE SMITH For Law Times OTTAWA — The House of Commons immigration com- mittee has completed a study on the Immigration and Refugee Board and the problems around the lack of an independent com- plaints process against board members, especially around areas such as the credibility of LGBTQ refugee claimants and sensitivity to those who have ex- perienced trauma, whether due to gender-based violence or they are survivors of torture or other vulnerable persons. Some immigration and refugee lawyers say that the re- port, while welcome, doesn't go far enough to address their criticisms of the current system, which can have a huge impact on the lives of their clients. Nastaran Roushan, a sole practitioner in Toronto, who appeared before the committee, says that there is a sense of com- placency in the recommenda- tions. "It appears that the commit- tee thought that things are not so bad that they require any sort of extreme measure or overhaul," she says. Roushan is particularly dis- mayed by the lack of recommen- dations on knowledge of refugee law for appointees to the IRB. "I think that's very concern- ing," says Roushan. "I don't know of any job where someone would apply for a job and not have some requisite degree of knowledge and skill." The report makes eight rec- ommendations, which includes: maintaining the current Gover- nor in Council appointment sys- tem but that the screening process include an evaluation of a candi- date's awareness and understand- ing of discriminatory conduct and the standards of behaviour to which members of the board are to be held; that the IRB's ongoing training process be more vigor- ous and include sensitivity train- ing, trauma-informed investiga- tion techniques and credibility assessment; and that the federal government create an indepen- dent complaints process for all administrative tribunals includ- ing the IRB. Another lawyer says the re- port missed the opportunity to recommend that those appoint- ed to the IRB should be practis- ing lawyers. "It is a missed opportunity to be able to staff up the board with people that are already very well equipped with an education and training in skills that are neces- sary for a board member, includ- ing analysis and procedural fair- ness," says Barbara Jo Caruso, founder of Corporate Immigra- tion Law Firm PC in Toronto and past chairwoman of the Canadian Bar Association's im- migration law section. Chantal Desloges, founder and senior partner with Des- loges Law Group PC in Toronto, appeared before the committee and says that an IRB's mem- ber's behaviour, including their knowledge of things such as country conditions, is critical for her clients. "If it's an appeal, it will af- fect people's family reunifica- tion, it will mean the difference between whether their spouse joins them in Canada and then you have refugee cases that are literally life and death," says Des- loges. "The stakes are really high for these people, so the quality of decision-making is really im- portant." While Desloges says she likes the recommendations around longer mentorship and super- vised decision-making for new members, credibility training, as well as the notion of an in- dependent complaints process for all federal adjudicators, she would rather see the Governor in Council appointment system scrapped in favour of the public service hiring process. Andrew Brouwer, vice presi- dent of the Canadian Associa- tion of Refugee Lawyers, who also appeared at the committee, says the organization is pleased by the recommendations of maintaining the IRB as an in- dependent and expert tribunal and supports the recommenda- tions aimed at strengthening its expertise. "The report is especially timely, considering that the federal government is poised to propose reforms to the refu- gee determination system," says Brouwer. Mathieu Genest, spokes- man for immigration minister Ahmed Hussen, says they are carefully reviewing the report in order to provide an official response. "The findings in this report will inform our review of Can- ada's asylum system as we de- termine how best to maximize efficiency while ensuring that all clients are treated with respect and fairness," said Genest in an emailed response to Law Times. A spokeswoman for the IRB says it is still reviewing the com- mittee's recommendations and would have no additional com- ments at this time. Liberal MP Robert Oliphant, the committee chairman, says that what came out of the report was the sense that parliament needs to give the changes that have already been made to IRB's complaints process more time before fully evaluating them, a position that Brouwer echoed. "It's too early to judge them quickly, so a major recommen- dation out of the report was to say that yes, there were com- plaints in the past, changes have been made and let's review and analyze it over the next year," says Oliphant. LT NEWS Visit gpllm.law.utoronto.ca Questions? gpllm@utoronto.ca Master the law. Canada's leading law school offers a graduate degree in four unique streams: Business Law Canadian Law in a Global Context Innovation, Law and Technology Law of Leadership Apply today. Untitled-1 1 2018-05-10 10:52 AM Nastaran Roushan says she's dismayed by the lack of recommendations on knowl- edge of refugee law for appointees to the Immigration and Refugee Board.

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