David Raymond Amos@DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos@Kathryn98967631 and 48 others
Methinks the lawyers Lorne Waldman and Ahmed Hussen who is Canada's
latest Minister in charge of Immigration know I have a HUGE bone to pick
with them Anyone can review Federal Court File T-1557-15 N'esy Pas?
Federal government quietly offered a settlement to halt lawsuits over immigration program
1048 Comments Commenting is now closed for this story.
Jamie Gillis Another swing and a miss on the immigration file by the "open and transparent" Trudeau Liberals.
David Amos Reply
to @Jamie Gillis: Methinks Immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman and the
lawyer who Canada's latest Minister in charge of Immigration know I have
a HUGE bone to pick with them Anyone can review Federal Court File
T-1557-15 N'esy Pas?
Federal government quietly offered a settlement to halt lawsuits over immigration program
At least 70 applicants were given spots to sponsor parents, grandparents in return for dropping lawsuits
The
federal government made a legal settlement to stop litigation over its
contentious online application process for family reunification. (Mark Blinch/Canadian Press)
The federal government made a secret settlement to quash two
lawsuits that claimed its contentious online application process to
reunite immigrant families was flawed and unfair, CBC News has learned.
To
resolve the group litigation, the government awarded at least 70
coveted spots to applicants allowing them to sponsor their parents' or
grandparents' immigration to Canada.
Legal actions were launched
in Toronto and Vancouver after the widely criticized online application
process went ahead on Jan. 28 — a process which left tens of thousands
of people frustrated and furious because they couldn't access the form
or fill it out fast enough.
The process opened at noon and closed less than nine minutes later.
A
flurry of angry complaints erupted. Some said the sprint to
file applications worked against those who couldn't fill them out
quickly, such as people with disabilities or literacy issues, or those
living in places with slow internet connections.
CBC News learned of the settlement through a legal source who was not directly involved in the lawsuits.
Lawyers
who were involved in the settlement of the lawsuits, which included a
non-disclosure agreement, declined to provide any details to CBC. There
are no public court records on the settlement.
Immigration lawyer
Mary Keyork said she was unaware of the legal settlement and called it
"very unfair" to those who didn't know about the lawsuits, or couldn't
afford to join them.
20,000 spots were available
"I think they're going to feel very disappointed and I think they're going to feel like they were cheated somehow," she said.
"As
much as people who have means are entitled to go and get a lawyer and
start procedures and fight for their rights ... when it happens
personally to you, it's very painful, especially when you have people
who have been trying to bring their parents here for many, many years."
This
year, the federal government offered 20,000 spots for sponsoring
parents or grandparents, and confirmed that more than 100,000 had
attempted to access the online form to express interest.
A
government official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the
case, said the government opted to settle the legal challenges because
the number of applicants was relatively small, because it included
plaintiffs with disabilities and because a court proceeding could have
suspended the entire set of applications.
Immigration lawyer Lorne
Waldman — who said he also was unaware of the settlement — said the
online application process was extremely problematic and opened
up multiple grounds for legal challenges.
"Obviously,
what the government's hope is ... that by settling it quickly and by
keeping the matter secret, other people won't launch challenges as
well," he said. "So they're trying to keep a cap on the number of people
who will benefit from the legal challenge."
He said he expects that once people learn about the settlement, they'll seek similar concessions from Ottawa.
"When
it's made public, it's basically an invitation to everybody else who
didn't get a spot to commence an action and demand the same equal
treatment," he said.
Waldman said the government ultimately must
find a way to reform the program so that people are selected fairly, not
arbitrarily.
Records from a federal court challenge filed in
Toronto Feb. 12 by 13 applicants called the online registration process
"so deeply flawed that thousands of interested parties, including the
applicants ... were denied a reasonable opportunity to sponsor their
parents for immigration to Canada."
'Arbitrary, unfair, unjust'
"The
online registration process in both its design and implementation was
arbitrary, capricious, procedurally unfair and unjust," the court
document reads.
Dan Miller, the lawyer representing applicants
seeking judicial review of the government's process, said he could not
state if their case was related to the litigation. He would not discuss
the matter except to say the case has been resolved.
The parent and grandparent sponsorship program has been plagued with problems for years.
The
Liberal government moved to a first-come, first-served online
application system this year after scrapping a controversial lottery
system for reuniting immigrant families. The lottery system was contentious, with critics claiming it essentially gambled with peoples' lives.
The
lottery process had replaced another first-in system which itself was
unpopular because it led to a "mad rush" every January, with people
lining up overnight at the doors of processing centres or paying
placeholders to stand in line and deliver applications prepared by
consultants or lawyers.
Immigration
Minister Ahmed Hussen's office says the government is reviewing the
online application process for sponsoring parents and grandparents after
a flood of complaints. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
A
statement from Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen's office said the
online application process was brought in to ensure fairness and to
safeguard against abuse, but added the system is now under review.
"We
are continually monitoring all of our programs to find ways to improve
them. It is too early to speculate on potential changes to next year's
application process," the statement reads.
"Our government remains
committed to family reunification, which is why we quadrupled the
intake of parent and grandparent applications to 20,000 this year from
5,000 under the Conservatives."
Canadian citizens and permanent
residents also can apply to bring their parents and grandparents to
Canada for up to two years at a time with a 'super visa', which allows
multiple entries for up to 10 years.
Under that program, applicants must show proof of private medical insurance and financial support.
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