Date: 20010919
Docket: IMM-5151-00
Ottawa, Ontario, September 19, 2001
Before: Pinard J.
Between:
Edward Ponrajah JESUTHASAN
Plaintiff
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION OF CANADA
Defendant
ORDER
The application for judicial review from a decision by the Refugee Division on August 11, 2000 that the plaintiff is not a Convention refugee, and further concluding that his claim lacked a credible basis under s. 69.1(9.1) of the Immigration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-2, is dismissed.
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Yvon Pinard JUDGE |
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, LL.L. Trad. a.
Date: 20010919
Docket: IMM-5151-00
Neutral citation: 2001 FCT 1027
Between:
Edward Ponrajah JESUTHASAN
Plaintiff
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION OF CANADA
Defendant
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.
[1] The application for judicial review is from a decision by the Refugee Division on August 11, 2000 that the plaintiff is not a Convention refugee and further concluding that his claim lacked a credible basis under s. 69.1(9.1) of the Immigration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-2.
[2] The plaintiff alleged a fear of persecution in Sri Lanka, the country of which he is a national.
[3] The Refugee Division based its decision entirely on the plaintiff's lack of credibility, as it found several contradictions and inconsistencies in his testimony.
[4] As I indicated at the hearing, I do not intend to intervene in the tribunal's first conclusion dismissing the refugee status claim as such, as the plaintiff did not persuade me that the decision was based on an erroneous finding of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it (s. 18.1(4)(d) of Federal Court Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7).
[5] My review of the evidence also leads me to refrain from intervening on the conclusion regarding a lack of credible basis, for the following reasons which I have already stated in Tingombay v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, 2001 FCT 752, [2001] F.C.J. No. 1146 (QL), which apply here mutatis mutandis:
[TRANSLATION]*
[4] As I must assume, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, that the Refugee Division considered all the evidence (see Hassan v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1992), 147 N.R. 317, at 318), I was not persuaded, despite the intelligent submission by Me Desmarais, that this specialized tribunal could not reasonably conclude as it did (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1993), 160 N.R. 315, at 316 and 317). Additionally, as the plaintiffs' testimony was not found to be credible, the tribunal could, as I held in Hernandez et al. v. The Minister (April 30, 1999), IMM-3020-98, conclude that the claims lacked a credible basis. In Sheikh v. Canada (M.E.I.), [1990] 3 F.C. 238, the Federal Court of Appeal held that when such a tribunal finds that a claimant is not credible, it may conclude that there is no credible basis on which he could be granted refugee status. Further, in Minister of Employment and Immigration v. Mathiyabaranam (December 5, 1997), A-223-95, the Federal Court of Appeal affirmed that this rule applies in respect of s. 69.1(9.1) of the Act on the question of a credible basis (see also Nizeyimana et al. v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (March 30, 2001), IMM-1789-00, 2001 FCT 259).
[6] The application for judicial review is accordingly dismissed.
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Yvon Pinard JUDGE |
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
September 19, 2001
Certified true translation
Suzanne M. Gauthier, LL.L. Trad. a.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT No.: IMM-5151-00
STYLE OF CAUSE: EDWARD PONRAJAH JESUTHASAN v. MCI
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: August 20, 2001
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: PINARD J.
DATED: September 19, 2001
APPEARANCES:
Martin Forget FOR THE PLAINTIFF
François Joyal FOR THE DEFENDANT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Martin Forget FOR THE PLAINTIFF
Montréal, Quebec
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE DEFENDANT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada