We are proud to congratulate our colleague Allan Rock, PC, CM, OOnt, KC, on his appointment as Chair of Integrity Initiatives International. As Chair, Allan will lead Integrity Initiatives International’s efforts to combat grand corruption and advance the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court—an initiative that has grown into a global movement supported by hundreds of international leaders. A former Minister of ...
April 7, 2026 On March 26, 2026, the Samara Centre for Democracy was proud to intervene at the Supreme Court in Hak v Attorney General of Quebec, also known as English Montreal School Board v Attorney General of Quebec. The case challenges Quebec’s controversial secularism law, Bill 21, which prohibits public sector workers in authority—like teachers, police officers, and judges—from wearing ...
By Olivia Bowden The Guardian As each day in US detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away. The 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal. But for the last four and a half months, Appolon has been ...
We are delighted to welcome Allan Rock, K.C., to Landings LLP. As a refugee and immigration law firm, our work is grounded in the protection of human dignity, the defence of fundamental rights, and the belief that international law must serve the most vulnerable. Few Canadian leaders embody those principles more fully than Allan Rock. Throughout his career, Allan has ...
By Marie Woolf The Globe & Mail Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is closely scrutinizing visa applications from soccer fans planning to attend the World Cup, to prevent people from entering the country with the aim of claiming asylum. Officials are warning that ticketholders could be refused visas or turned away by border agents if it is feared they may not ...
By Nicholas Keung Senior Immigration Reporter For more than five years, Thomas Ndayiragije could only remotely parent his children — refugees in limbo in South Africa — while he lived alone in exile in Canada.
By Maureen Silcoff, Erin Simpson and Allan Rock Contributors Toronto Star Since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, his absurd contention that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state has drawn much attention. In reality, the core of the Canada-U.S. bilateral relationship is the orderly flow of people and goods across our shared border. And that includes people seeking asylum.
Sara Mojtehedzadeh The Globe and Mail Claudia Ensuncho Martinez’s right forearm is tattooed with a feather, its spine formed by the white scar stretching from her wrist to elbow. On a sweltering day last August, Ms. Ensuncho Martinez arrived at the Canadian border, fleeing the man who inflicted that scar. After the journey from Colombia by boat, by foot, by ...
Marie Woolf Ottawa Published August 18, 2025Updated August 19, 2025 Dissidents, human-rights activists and journalists being persecuted by foreign regimes could find themselves unable to get asylum hearings in Canada under planned immigration changes, refugee experts warn. They are calling on the federal government to create an exception in Bill C-2, the Strong Borders bill, so dissidents can find safe haven here.
Almost 5,000 Palestinians who applied last year to take part in a special Ottawa program to help them flee war-torn Gaza and join relatives in Canada have been deemed eligible by the government, but so far only 620 – or fewer than 15 per cent – have arrived. Immigration lawyers representing Palestinians and their Canadian relatives are accusing the government ...
