Date: 19991207
Docket: IMM-769-99
BETWEEN:
JEGATHEESWARAN LAWRENCE
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
(Delivered from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario,
on Tuesday, December 7, 1999)
McGILLIS J.
[1] The applicant has challenged by way of judicial review a decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board ("Board") dated January 25, 1999 that he was not a Convention refugee. The applicant is a Tamil citizen of Sri Lanka who came to Canada on September 22, 1997 and claimed refugee status based on his membership in a particular social group, namely young Tamil males from the north of Sri Lanka, and on a political opinion that can be imputed to him.
[2] In its decision, the Board found that the applicant was not credible or trustworthy and that his evidence concerning the central elements of his claim was implausible. The Board provided detailed reasons in support of its finding that the applicant lacked credibility, including the fact that the central elements of the claim were not contained in the applicant's personal information form.
[3] Despite the very able argument of counsel for the applicant, I have not been persuaded that the decision of the Board was unreasonable on the basis of the evidence in the record. In particular, it was open to the Board to conclude that the applicant lacked credibility due to his failure to outline the central elements of his claim in his personal information form and his contradictory evidence in which he attempted to explain that omission. In short, even if I were to find that the Board made errors in assessing the evidence before it, its overall conclusion cannot be said to be unreasonable.
[4] With respect to the submission that the applicant was denied a fair hearing, I have carefully reviewed the transcript of the hearing and have concluded that the questions posed by the Board member at various stages of the hearing were designed to clarify certain aspects of the applicant's evidence or to request him to explain various inconsistencies or contradictions. The interventions by the Board member did not therefore result in the denial of a fair hearing to the applicant. [See Mahendran v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1991] F.C.J. No. 549 at para. 7 (C.A.)].
[5] The application for judicial review is dismissed. The case raises no serious question of general importance.
"D. McGillis"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
December 7, 1999
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
| COURT NO: IMM-769-99 |
| STYLE OF CAUSE: JEGATHEESWARAN LAWRENCE |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
| DATE OF HEARING: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1999 |
| PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| REASONS FOR ORDER BY: McGILLIS J. |
DATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1999
| APPEARANCES: Mr. Avi J. Sirlin |
| For the Applicant |
| Ms. Cheryl D. Mitchell |
| For the Respondent |
| SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Avi J. Sirlin |
Barrister & Solicitor
425 University Avenue, Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1T6
| For the Applicant |
Morris Rosenberg
| Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
| For the Respondent |
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19991207
Docket: IMM-769-99
BETWEEN:
JEGATHEESWARAN LAWRENCE
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER