Date: 20020306
Docket: IMM-1210-01
Neutral citation: 2002 FCT 255
Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday the 6th day of March 2002
PRESENT: The Honourable Madam Justice Dawson
BETWEEN:
ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO,
GILMA NINETH RUANO and ALVARO
STEVE RUANO and KEVIN STUARDO
RUANO, by their litigation guardian,
ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
[1] The applicants in this proceeding for judicial review assert that in rejecting their application for visa exemption and permanent residence in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds the immigration officer erred by concurring with, and adopting, a negative risk assessment which was unreasonable and made without regard for the evidence.
[2] When conducting an assessment of the risk which an applicant would face if returned to his or her country of origin, all evidence directly relevant to the applicant must be considered. The decision-maker may not justify his or her conclusion by a selective reading of the evidence. The greater the relevance of evidence supporting the assertion of risk, the greater the need for the decision-maker to explain why the evidence was not found to be persuasive.
[3] Despite the articulate submission of counsel for the applicants, I have not been persuaded that the immigration officer erred as alleged. I have been persuaded by the equally articulate submission of counsel for the Minister that the decision was not based on a selective reading of the evidence. Further, the evidence not specifically referred to in the risk assessment and relied upon by the applicants was not so significant and relevant that it may be inferred from its omission in the risk assessment that the evidence was overlooked.
[4] After carefully reviewing the Personal Information Forms of the adult applicants and the country condition documentation referred to by applicants' counsel, I am satisfied that the evidence could reasonably support the conclusion that the applicants would not be subject to an objectively identifiable risk to life, or extreme sanction, or of inhumane treatment if they were to return to Guatemala. Therefore, the application for judicial review will be dismissed.
[5] Counsel posed no question for certification and no question is certified.
ORDER
[6] IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. The application for judicial review is dismissed.
2. No question is certified.
"Eleanor R. Dawson"
Judge
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-1210-01
STYLE OF CAUSE: ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO, GILMA NINETH RUANO and ALVARO STEVE RUANO and KEVIN STUARDO RUANO, by their litigation guardian, ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2002
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: DAWSON J.
DATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2002
APPEARANCES BY: D. Clifford Luyt
For the Applicants
Michael Butterfield
For the Respondent
Page: 2
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Jackman, Waldman & Associates
Barristers & Solicitors
c\o 281 Eglinton Avenue East
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 1L3
For the Applicants
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 20020306
Docket: IMM-1210-01
BETWEEN:
ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO, GILMA NINETH RUANO and ALVARO STEVE RUANO and KEVIN STUARDO RUANO, by their litigation guardian, ALVARO ARNOLDO RUANO ALVARADO
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER