Docket: IMM-2687-04
Citation: 2005 FC 457
Toronto, Ontario, April 6th, 2005
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice von Finckenstein
BETWEEN:
VIDA OFORIWAH
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 31 year old citizen of Ghana. She is a member a royal family and claims she is next in line to be queen mother of her clan and is against accepting "the stool" because she does not believe in the customs and religious ceremonies associated with Chieftaincy. She fears female circumcision and sterilization if she returns to Ghana.
[2] The Applicant's Personal Information Form ("PIF") stated that she was a member of the royal family of Aman from in the Kwahu district of Ghana that she said her mother did not accept the stool for health reasons and therefore it was passed down to her. However, during the hearing the Applicant said the stool was passed down through the father's line the Wa line. The Applicant said it was an error in the PIF and due to the fact that her counsel died, she did not have an opportunity to review her PIF until a week before her hearing.
[3] The Applicant also made inconsistent statements regarding her fear of sterilization. She stated that if she refused the stool, she would be sterilized but in her PIF she said she would be sterilized if she did accept the stool. The Board asked why she only referred to forced circumcision in her Port of Entry ("POE") notes and not her fear of accepting the stool and she replied that they are all interrelated because if she refused the stool, she would be circumcised and also sterilized. She did not refer to the stool or forced sterilization in her POE notes and she did not refer to circumcision in her PIF.
[4] The Board denied her claim basically for three reasons:
a) she had three years to correct her PIF and did not do so, only at the hearing after questioning did she point out that the PIF allegedly referred to the wrong line;
b) it found her not to be credible in respect of her mothers line due to the contradictions in her testimony regarding circumcision and sterilization and in light of objective evidence to the contrary;
c) it found her not to be credible in respect of her father's line as it would be a contradiction in terms for matrilineal heritage to pass via the daughter in law.
[5] Applicant argues that there was a breach of natural justice and procedural fairness as her claim was judged on the basis of an erroneous PIF.
[6] This argument cannot succeed. The Applicant had ample time to correct her PIF but did not do so. She only pointed out the error when under questioning she could not explain contradictions between her POE, her PIF and the objective outside evidence. Furthermore her Counsel did not bring the error to the Board's attention either prior to the hearing or at the commencement of the hearing; nor asked for an adjournment and permission to file an amended PIF.
[7] In light of all these facts I fail to see how the Applicant was denied procedural. The Board considered her testimony regarding both lines of succession and for valid reasons found neither to be credible.
[8] Accordingly, this application cannot succeed.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that this application be dismissed.
"K. von Finckenstein"
J.F.C.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-2687-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: VIDA OFORIWAH
and
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Toronto, Ontario
DATE OF HEARING: April 6, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: K. Von FINCKENSTEIN
DATED: April 6, 2005
APPEARANCES BY:
Jonathan Otis
FOR THE APPLICANT
Stephen Gold
FOR THE APPLICANT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Jonathan Otis
Toronto, Ontario
FOR THE APPLICANT
John H. Sims, Q.C.
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
FOR THE RESPONDENT