Borderlines

Sergio Marchi was Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 1993-1995. 3:00 – Does someone keep the Minister title their whole life? 4:50 – What was the political consensus regarding Canadian immigration at the end of the 1980s? How did the Reform Party impact things? 8:00 – The mix of immigrants between economic, family and humanitarian immigrants. 11:15 – What dictates whether IRCC meets its level targets? 14:30 – The Brian Mulroney government was considering moving immigration under Public Safety. Under Sergio Marchi it instead became it’s on Ministry. What prompted this? 17:30 – Canadian attitudes to refugee resettlements and misconceptions. 20:45 – Sources of resistance to refugee resettlement. Resettled refugees vs asylum seekers. 23:00 – Changes that Minister Marchi made to the refugee determination process. 25:00 – What was Minister Marchi’s approach to intervening on specific cases? When would Minister Marchi help Members of Parliament on constituent files? Did it matter which political

Syed Farhan Ali shares his Canadian immigration story. During the time that his spousal sponsorship application was in process he was denied temporary entry to Canada, missed the birth of his first child and missed her first steps. He recently arrived in Canada after a three year application process. Chantal Dube is a Spokesperson for Spousal Sponsorship Advocates, a group with more than 5,000 members in Canada that argues for reforms to the family reunification process.3:15Said tells the story of his spousal sponsorship application. His application took 34 months to process. During the processing of his application Canada denied his visitor visa applications. He missed the birth of his children and their first steps, although he was able to reunite with his wife during brief trips to the United States, which did grant him a visitor visa. 21:00We discuss the refusal of temporary resident visas for people with spousal sponsorship applications in process, people with frequent travel histories, people with A

The Honourable Chris Alexander served as Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada from July 2013 to November 2015. He represented the riding of Ajax—Pickering in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that spent 18 years in the Canadian Foreign Service, serving as Canada's first resident Ambassador to Afghnistan from 2003 - 2005. Subsequent to being an Member of Parliament he ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Mr. Alexander presided over the launch of Express Entry, the termination of the Immigrant Investor Program and the introduction of the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which prohibited forced and underaged marriages.5:09 – If there was one misconception about Canadian immigration law that Minister Alexander would like to change what would it be? 15:00 – Bill C-24 and the revocation of citizenship for dual nationals convicted of high crimes. 16:00 – Whether there was a strong anti-fraud and ant

The Honourable John McCallum served as Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada from November 2015 to January 2017. A Member of Parliament from 2000 - 2017, he also served as Defence Minister under Jean Chrétien, and Veterans Affairs Minister, National Revenue Minister, Natural Resources Minister and as Chair of the Expenditure Review Committee under Paul Martin. As Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Mr. McCallum led Canada's effort to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees over a period of three months. He also increased the age of dependency from 18-22, repealed conditional permanent residency and reduced family class processing times.5:00 – The resettlement of 40,000 refugees in Canada.22:00 – The division of immigration repsonsibilities between IRCC, CBSA and ESDC. Should they be combined?28:00 – What goes into reducing processing times.33:00 – Abolishing conditional permanent residence.39:00 – Mr. McCallum’s approach to being immigration c

Section 15 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides that every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination. Aidan Campbell joins to discuss the application of s. 15 of the Charter to Canadian immigration law and the implications recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Fraser v. Canada. Aidan Campbell is an Associate at Mahon & Company, a progressive firm which practices in Criminal Law, Immigration and Refugee Law, Public Interest & Constitutional Litigation, Sex Worker Rights, Prisoners’ Rights, Professional Discipline. Extradition Law and Tenants' Rights Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In R v. Kattenburg Justice Stratas of the Federal Court of Appeal cautioned judges against giving "virtue signalling and populism a go." This prompted a largely philosophical discussion about the role of judges, a Toronto judge who wore a Make America Great Again hat in court, a Quebec judge who proclaimed herself a feminist before making statements about Quebec's ban on religious attire, Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticizing President Trump, and defining what virtue signaling even is. Andrew Hayes is a US immigration lawyer who practices out of Vancouver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we provide an overview of family law issues that immigrants and their Canadian sponsors should be aware of, inlcuding the recognition of foreign marriages, how divorce works, threatening to have an ex-spouse deported and the difference between common-law and marriage and getting a marriage anulled.Ari Wormelli practices family law with YLAW Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aris Daghighian is a senior associate with Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto. He represented the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers as intervenors in Brown v. Canada, 2020 FCA 130. In this episode we discuss the issues raised in the case, including how immigration detention works in Canada, what the disclosure obligations should be on the government in an immigration detention proceeding and whether there should be a maximum time that someone can be held in immigration detention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 http://www.usborderlaw.com 2:00 -The closure of the Canada - US border25:00 - Recent Executive Orders pertaining to immigration in the United States 45:00 - The DACA decision Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 levels23:30 – What are the promises with regards to border security and the Safe Third Country Agreement? 36:00 – Temporary Foreign Workers42:00 – Application fees46:00 – Settlement services and values tests48:00 – Where parties can work together on and general trends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Hayes is a US immigration lawyer who practices in Vancouver. In this episode we discuss 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? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 @thechaiyunJamie, 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Molly Joeck and Erica Olmstead are lawyers with Edelmann & Co. They, along with Peter Edelmann, acted for the Canadian Council for Refugees as interveners before the Supreme Court of Canada in Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v. Chhina. In Chhina the issue before the Supreme Court was whether immigrant detainees have access to habeas corpus. We discuss Chhina, how immigration detention works in Canada, habeas corpus and issues going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natalie Drolet is the Executive Director / Staff Lawyer for the Migrant Workers Centre. We discuss the history of Canada's caregiver programs, current issues and what the future looks like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Civil forfeiture is a process in which the government seizes assets from persons suspected of involvement with crime without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing. Did you know that in British Columbia the government can seize and forfeit your car if you speed? Or that police can "seize first ask later" for property that is less than $75,000? This was a fascinating look at an area of law that receives little scrutiny, especially in how it can relate to immigration. Bibhas Vaze is a criminal defence lawyer in Vancouver. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.