Date: 19980831
Docket: IMM-4741-97
BETWEEN:
NEPTALI GUTIERREZ
VIBIAN ARGENTINA SAUCEDA CRUZ
Applicants
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
(Delivered from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario
on Wednesday, August 27, 1998 as edited)
ROTHSTEIN, J.:
[1] I am satisfied with the panel's assessment of the male applicant's lack of credibility. I see nothing in the transcript or references shown to me that causes me to believe that the panel erred in that determination. Nor am I satisfied that the panel failed to have regard to the evidence before it. It is true that there is no reference to one particular document that the applicant submitted during the last day of his hearing. However, the panel is not obliged to make reference in its reasons to each and every document that is submitted. Indeed in the transcript, the panel does deal with the document and it is clear from the panel's statement in the transcript that it had difficulty accepting the authenticity of this document.
[2] With respect to the female applicant's evidence, the panel simply stated that her evidence was "similarly non-credible and implausible". That is all they say about her evidence. If this decision turned on the female applicant's credibility, I think the panel's reasons would be inadequate. However, the female applicant's claim was dependent upon the validity of her husband's claim, and with respect to the husband's claim, in addition to finding that he lacked credibility, the panel determined that the Government of Honduras was willing and able to provide adequate protection to its citizens.
[3] As the panel says, persecuted individuals must first seek out the protection of their own country before seeking protection in other countries. The only argument that the applicant makes with regard to this finding is that the panel failed to take account of a newspaper ad by the union of which he says he was a member, making reference to a criminal attack against the president of the union. There is to be no follow-up from this newspaper ad.
[4] The newspaper ad itself does not prove that the Government of Honduras is unwilling or unable to provide adequate protection to its citizens. Something more would be required to make anything out of the newspaper ad.
[5] Even though the panel's treatment of the female applicant's evidence was inadequate, its conclusion that the Government of Honduras was willing and able to provide adequate protection is determinative.
[6] The judicial review must be dismissed.
"Marshall Rothstein"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
August 31, 1998
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-4741-97
| STYLE OF CAUSE: NEPTALI GUTIERREZ |
| VIBIAN ARGENTINA SAUCEDA CRUZ |
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
DATE OF HEARING: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1998
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: ROTHSTEIN, J.
DATED: MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1998
APPEARANCES: Ms. Audrey Campbell
For the Applicants
Ms. Geraldine MacDonald
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Audrey G. Campbell
Barrister & Solicitor
1052 Pape Avenue,
P.O. Box 60058, RPO Pape Ave.,
Toronto, Ontario
M4K 3Z3
For the Applicants
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19980831
Docket: IMM-4741-97
Between:
NEPTALI GUTIERREZ
| VIBIAN ARGENTINA SAUCEDA CRUZ |
Applicants
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER