Date: 20040422
Docket: IMM-2269-03
Citation: 2004 FC 599
Toronto, Ontario, April 22nd, 2004
Present: The Honourable Madam Justice Layden-Stevenson
BETWEEN:
CHANG ZHU CHI
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] Mr. Chi, a national of China, claims a well-founded fear of persecution as a result of his membership in an underground Christian church. The Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (RPD) denied his claim and he asks that its decision be set aside.
[2] Mr. Chi claims that he first began attending the underground church in 1999. He was baptized in June, 2001. He participated in the church by attending services both in his own village and in others, by providing a place for meetings, and by taking his turn as a lookout during the services. It was the latter activity that led to his leaving China.
[3] He alleges that on August 5, 2001, he was one of two lookouts during the service in a neighbouring village when the PSB suddenly arrived and raided the church. Mr. Chi escaped, but not all of the congregation did. At least three people were arrested. Mr. Chi went to a friend's home where he remained in hiding for about three months until he left China. He learned on August 8, 2001, that the PSB was looking for him and had raided his home and the place he had provided for services.
[4] The RPD denied the claim finding that there was insufficient credible evidence to establish that Mr. Chi is a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. Mr. Chi does not challenge the Immigration and Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27 (IRPA) section 97 (person in need of protection) finding. He contests the credibility findings with respect to whether he provided a place for services and with respect to his description of the lookout area. He argues that the most significant negative credibility finding - that he did not provide a place for services for his underground church - was made on a patently unreasonable basis because the Board's presentation and interpretation of the evidence was not what happened. The evidence with respect to the lookout was not as clear as it should have been and Mr. Chi concedes that the finding in this respect was probably not patently unreasonable.
[5] I agree that the RPD mischaracterized the evidence regarding the provision of a place for worship. My reading of the transcript reveals that Mr. Chi's consistent evidence - both in the PIF and orally - was that he had provided a place for services. A single question (tribunal record, p. 377) was the only deviation. When Mr. Chi realized that he had contradicted himself, he stated that he had misunderstood the question.
[6] However, I do not share Mr. Chi's opinion that this single finding taints the whole decision. The evidence, when considered in totality, does not justify the Court's intervention. The RPD made a number of credibility findings other than the one with regard to the place for services. None of the other findings, except for that in relation to the lookout, have been challenged and counsel agrees that the lookout finding cannot be said to be patently unreasonable. While the RPD may have dwelt unnecessarily on the finding in relation to the place for services, it was not the primary negative credibility finding and the other determinations were more than sufficient to warrant a negative decision.
[7] The application for judicial review will therefore be dismissed. Counsel did not suggest a question for certification. This matter raises no question appropriate for certification.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that the application for judicial review is dismissed. No question is certified.
"Carolyn Layden-Stevenson"
J.F.C.
FEDERAL COURT
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
DOCKET: IMM-2269-03
STYLE OF CAUSE: CHANG ZHU CHI
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
DATE OF HEARING: APRIL 21, 2004
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER
AND ORDER BY: LAYDEN-STEVENSON J.
DATED: APRIL 22, 2004
APPEARANCES BY:
Mr. Hart A. Kaminker
FOR THE APPLICANT
Ms. Pamela Larmondin
FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
KRANC & ASSOCIATES
Barristers & Solicitors
Toronto, Ontario
FOR THE APPLICANT
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Toronto, Ontario
FOR THE RESPONDENT
FEDERAL COURT
Date: 20040422
Docket: IMM-2269-03
BETWEEN:
CHANG ZHU CHI
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER