Docket: IMM-6697-04
Toronto, Ontario, June 29th, 2005
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice von Finckenstein
BETWEEN:
MARIE OKITAPENGE-OPUNGA MAWAKA
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
(Delivered orally from the bench and subsequently written for clarification and precision)
[1] The Applicant is a 25 year old citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC"). She is claiming refugee status due to her political opinion and membership in a political party, the PDSC.
[2] This is her second hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (the "Board"). The previous Board's decision to reject her refugee claim was set aside by Mactavish J. in Luswa v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2004] F.C.J. No. 320 as the Board failed to assess her claim independently from that of her husband. The Applicant's husband's refugee claim was refused and he has returned to the DRC.
[3] In the decision under review here, the Board rejected her application for lack of credibility.
[4] The Applicant claims the Board made a reversible error when receiving in evidence a card purporting to demonstrate her membership in a political party called the PDSC, yet failed to comment on its authenticity and eventually concluded that the Applicant was not a member of the PDSC.
[5] There is no dispute that the applicable standard of review in this case is patent unreasonableness (see Umba v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2004] F.C.J. No. 17).
[6] While it would have been preferable for the Board to comment on the membership card, this, in my view, does not constitute a reversible error.
[7] The Board advanced several reasons for its finding of lack of credibility, namely:
1. The Applicant placed great emphasis on her father's political activities, yet could only name his party by its initials. In her Personal Information Form ("PIF"), she had only mentioned her uncle, not her father.
2. Newspaper articles about her uncle's political activity had conveniently been destroyed by her children whilst playing in all the portions that mentioned her uncle's residence.
3. The Applicant did not know her father was a founding member of the PPRD and referred to the party mistakenly as PPD.
4. The Applicant's father still lives in the DRC and is not being persecuted by the authorities.
5. By her own admission, the Applicant was not an active member in the PDSC.
6. The Applicant knew next to nothing about the PDSC's policies or its activities.
[8] The Tribunal Record reveals that the membership card was only obtained for the second hearing. By her own admission, the Applicant never had a card while living in the DRC. It also bore no photo and displayed only a photocopied signature of the president of the party. Finally, it called the country Zaïre, the former name of the DRC.
[9] On the basis of the foregoing, the Board had sufficient reason to question the credibility of the Applicant and doubt her membership in the PDSC. The Board's omission to set out reasons for not accepting the veracity of the "membership card", does not in itself make its decision patently unreasonable.
[10] Accordingly, this application cannot succeed.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that this application be dismissed.
"K. von Finckenstein"
J.F.C.
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-6697-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: MARIE OKITAPENGE-OPUNGA MAWAKA
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
DATE OF HEARING: JUNE 29, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: von FINCKENSTEIN J.
DATED: JUNE 29, 2005
APPEARANCES:
Micheal Crane FOR THE APPLICANT
David Tyndale FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Mr. Micheal Crane
Barrister and Solicitor
Toronto, Ontario FOR THE APPLICANT
John H. Sims Q.C.
Deputy Attorney General of Canada FOR THE RESPONDENT