Date: 20071004
Docket: IMM-3633-06
Citation: 2007 FC 1003
BETWEEN:
DHARMANAND RAMAUTAR
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
AND THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Respondents
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
Pinard
J.
[1]
This
an application for judicial review of a decision of the Immigration Division of
the Immigration and Refugee Board (the Board), dated June 15, 2006, wherein the
Board found that the applicant was inadmissible to Canada for reasons of
serious criminality pursuant to paragraph 36(1)(a) of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27, (the Act) and ordered that he
be deported.
[2]
The
respondent submits that this application for judicial review is statute-barred,
because the applicant has not exhausted his right of appeal to the Immigration
Appeal Division (the IAD). I agree.
[3]
The
relevant provisions of the Act are as follows:
|
63.(3) A permanent resident or a
protected person may appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division against a
decision at an examination or admissibility hearing to make a removal order
against them.
[…]
72.
(1) Judicial review by the Federal Court with respect to any matter — a
decision, determination or order made, a measure taken or a question raised —
under this Act is commenced by making an application for leave to the Court.
(2)
The following provisions govern an application under subsection (1):
(a) the application may not be made until
any right of appeal that may be provided by this Act is exhausted;
[…]
162. (1) Each Division of the Board has, in
respect of proceedings brought before it under this Act, sole and exclusive
jurisdiction to hear and determine all questions of law and fact, including
questions of jurisdiction.
(2)
Each Division shall deal with all proceedings before it as informally and
quickly as the circumstances and the considerations of fairness and natural
justice permit.
[…]
174.
(1) The Immigration
Appeal Division is a court of record and shall have an official seal, which
shall be judicially noticed.
(2)
The Immigration Appeal Division has all the powers, rights and privileges
vested in a superior court of record with respect to any matter necessary for
the exercise of its jurisdiction, including the swearing and examination of
witnesses, the production and inspection of documents and the enforcement of
its orders.
|
63. (3) Le résident permanent ou
la personne protégée peut interjeter appel de la mesure de renvoi prise au
contrôle ou à l’enquête.
[…]
72.
(1) Le
contrôle judiciaire par la Cour fédérale de toute mesure — décision,
ordonnance, question ou affaire — prise dans le cadre de la présente loi est
subordonné au dépôt d’une demande d’autorisation.
(2) Les dispositions
suivantes s’appliquent à la demande d’autorisation :
a) elle ne peut être présentée
tant que les voies d’appel ne sont pas épuisées;
[…]
162. (1) Chacune des sections a compétence
exclusive pour connaître des questions de droit et de fait — y compris en
matière de compétence — dans le cadre des affaires dont elle est saisie.
(2)
Chacune des sections fonctionne, dans la mesure où les circonstances et les
considérations d’équité et de justice naturelle le permettent, sans
formalisme et avec célérité.
[…]
174.
(1) La Section
d’appel de l’immigration est une cour d’archives; elle a un sceau officiel
dont l’authenticité est admise d’office.
(2)
La Section d’appel a les attributions d’une juridiction supérieure sur toute
question relevant de sa compétence et notamment pour la comparution et
l’interrogatoire des témoins, la prestation de serment, la production et
l’examen des pièces, ainsi que l’exécution de ses décisions.
|
[4]
The
language of paragraph 72(2)(a) is clear: an application for judicial
review under the Act cannot be made until any right of appeal provided by the
Act is exhausted. Subsection 63(3) of the Act allows permanent residents, such
as the applicant, to appeal to the IAD against a decision at an admissibility
hearing to make a removal order.
[5]
In
Sidhu v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, 2002 FCT 260, the
Federal Court dismissed an application for judicial review on the basis that
the applicant had failed to avail himself of the proper procedure, which
included making an appeal to the Appeal Division. At paragraph 34, Justice Dawson
wrote:
Declining, in the face of an
adequate alternative remedy, to exercise the court's discretion at this
juncture preserves the integrity of the process established by Parliament,
reflects a proper and measured concern for the economic use of judicial
resources, and ensures that if questions of law are ultimately to be decided by
this Court on an application for judicial review the Court will have the
benefit of reasons from the Appeal Division.
[6]
Dawson
J’s reasoning applies equally to this case. The applicant has an alternative
remedy available to him, and must take advantage of this remedy, before
judicial review of the Board’s decision is available (see also Desgroseilliers
v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (August 14, 2002), IMM-3250-02;
Harelkin v. University of Regina, [1979] 2 S.C.R. 561; Fehr v.
National Parole Board (1995), 93 F.T.R. 161; Anderson v. Canada (Armed
Forces), [1997] 1 F.C. 273 (C.A.) and Abbott Laboratories, Ltd. v.
Canada (Minister of National Revenue) (2004), 12 Admin. L.R. (4th)
20).
[7]
Consequently,
the application for judicial review is dismissed for being statute-barred by paragraph
72(2)(a) of the Act.
“Yvon
Pinard”
Ottawa, Ontario
October
4, 2007
FEDERAL COURT
NAME OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-3633-06
STYLE OF CAUSE: DHARMANAND RAMAUTAR v. THE MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION AND THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS
PLACE OF
HEARING: Toronto,
Ontario
DATE OF
HEARING: September
13, 2007
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT: Pinard J.
DATED: October 4, 2007
APPEARANCES:
Timothy Wichert FOR
THE APPLICANT
David Tyndale FOR
THE RESPONDENTS
SOLICITORS
OF RECORD:
Jackman &
Associates FOR THE APPLICANT
Barristers and
Solicitors
Toronto, Ontario
John H. Sims,
Q.C. FOR THE RESPONDENTS
Deputy Attorney
General of Canada
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