Our Team in the Media
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Provincial legal aid cuts are senseless economic and social policy
The Government of Ontario has cut one-third of legal aid funding. Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) funds legal representation for those individuals whose annual income is less than $17,000 – in other words, the most impoverished in our society...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – The Criminalization of Migration
With over 240 million migrants in the world, including over 65 million forced migrants and refugees, states have turned to draconian measures to stem the flow of irregular migration, including the criminalization of migration itself...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Meet Refugee Lawyer Jacqueline Swaisland
It’s a tumultuous time for refugee lawyers. For Jacqueline Swaisland, the number of people willing to work hard and start over in this country is inspiring. It’s her job to help give those people a chance to start over...
Erin Simpson – Q&A with a refugee lawyer, on “irregular” border crossings in the age of Trump
Erin Simpson, a Toronto-based attorney who sits on the executive committee of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, is one of the people working to find out who’s fleeing the U.S., and why...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – M-103: Canadian Muslims need this showing of solidarity
Much has been made this week of something that should have been a simple gesture to a community in mourning. Many Muslims in Canada have been hurting...
Erin Simpson – How Canada should react to Trump and refugee crisis
Refugees entering Canada through the US are risking dangerous irregular crossings to avoid detection of Canadian border officials because the Safe Third Country Agreement requires Canadian immigration officials to deny entry...
Jacqueline Swaisland – How Canadian lawyers can respond to Trump’s executive orders
Here are six ways that you can put your skills into action as a member of the Canadian bar to respond to Donald Trump's anti-immigration executive orders.
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Canadian legacy of the life and death of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi
Alan Kurdi never knew peace. Just three years old when he died, he was born in war and died trying to flee it, like many thousands of others...
Jacqueline Swaisland – Precedent Setter Awards 2016
Jacqueline Swaisland receives Precedent Setter Award for cofounding the Refugee Sponsorship Support Program, that has grown to more than 1,200 lawyers worldwide and has helped more than 1,000 refugees in Toronto alone.
Jacqueline Swaisland – Immigration consultants violating rules of refugee sponsorship program
Professional immigration consultants, in partnership with some refugee sponsorship groups, are charging refugees thousands of dollars in arrangements that critics say are unethical and violate federal rules...
Jacqueline Swaisland – How Canadians are Stepping Up
December 22, 2015 | NPR Canada's newly elected government faces a challenge - how to fulfil a promise to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in a matter of months. NPR interviews Jacqueline Swaisland on the matter...
Jacqueline Swaisland – As Syrian Refugees Reach Canada, Many Are Pitching In
December 22, 2015 | KBCX FM
Jacqueline Swaisland – Legal community poised to greet Syrian influx
December 7, 2015 | Law Times While the federal immigration minister has taken heat for vague details on 10,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees, the legal community is also busy preparing for what impacts the influx may bring...
Warda Shazadi Meighen – Can a Picture Change the Rhetoric on Refugees?
September 10, 2015 | New America Weekly Aylan Kurdi, age three, had escaped from Syria and was en route to seek refuge in Canada with his family. He drowned off the Turkish coast. Last week, the widely circulated photo of the infant’s body washed ashore ...
Recent Developments
Recent Decisions
Gopalakrishnan v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 277 In Gopalakrishnan v. Canada (MCI) Justice Ahmed examined the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decision to dismiss the Applicants’ appeal on the grounds of viable internal flight alternatives (IFA) existing in Bangalore or Mumbai. The Applicants had sought asylum ...
Recent Decisions
Figarola Ahumada v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 246 In Figarola Ahumada v. Canada (MCI) Justice Brown examined the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decision to refuse the Applicants’ appeal due to credibility findings. The Applicants had initially sought asylum in Canada on the basis of feared ...
Recent Decisions
Palagot v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 214 In Palagot v. Canada (MCI) Justice Petney examined the Refugee Protection Division’s (RPD) decision to refuse to re-opening the Applicant’s asylum claim. With the aid of a fraudulent consultant, the Applicant had initially sough asylum, but due to ...
Recent Decisions
Alajnf v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 151 In Alajnf v. Canada (MCI) Justice Norris examined the Office’s decision to refuse the Applicants’ Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application due to lack of evidence of personalized hardship in Libya. On judicial review, Justice Norris found that the ...
Recent Decisions
Zeng v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 75 In Zeng v. Canada (MCI) Justice Go examined the Applicants’ refused second refugee appeal redetermination decision. The Applicants had originally filed a claim for protection from the Chinese authorities based on the Principal Applicant’s (PA) identity as a ...
Recent Decisions
Tkabo v. Canada (MCI) 2023 FC 15 In Tkabo v. Canada (MCI), Justice Elliott examined both the Refugee Protection Division’s (RPD) and the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decisions to refuse the Applicant’s claim based on lack of credibility with respect to the Applicant’s identity. On ...
Recent Decisions
Thind v. Canada (MCI) 2022 FC 1782 In Thind v. Canada (MCI), Justice Rochester examined both the Refugee Protection Division’s (RPD) and the Refugee Appeal Division’s (RAD) decisions to refuse the Applicant’s claim based on the exitance of a viable IFA. The RAD determined that ...
Recent Decisions
K.M. v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1726 In K.M. v. Canada (MCI), Justice Strickland examined the Minister’s decision to refuse the Applicant’s Pre-Removal Risk Application (PRRA) due to lack of forward-looking risk. The Applicant originally made a successful refugee claim and became a permanent resident ...
Recent Decisions
Thind v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1644 In Thind v. Canada (MCI), Justice Ahmed assessed an Immigration Officer’s decision to refuse the Applicant’s Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) application on the grounds of lack of unique circumstances to overcome their inadmissibility. On judicial review, Justice Ahmed ...
Recent Decisions
Brown v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1607 In Brown v. Canada (MCI), Justice Sadrehashemi examined the Applicants’ refugee appeal refusal. At issue was whether the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) breached procedural fairness by drawing negative credibility inference from the Applicants’ inability to provide corroborative evidence. ...
Recent Decisions
Gebru v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1563 In Gebru v. Canada (MCI), the Court examined the Immigration Division’s decision to find the Applicant inadmissible to Canada pursuant to ss.34(1)(f) and 34(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for being a member of Tigray People’s ...
Recent Decisions
AB v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1540 In AB v. Canada (MCI) the Court examined the Officer’s decision to refuse the Applicant’s humanitarian and compassionate application on the grounds of "moderate" BIOC impact . On judicial review, the Court found that the Officer did not ...
Recent Decisions
Menjivar v. Canada (MCI), 2022 FC 1490 In Menjivar v. Canada (MCI), the Court explored the IAD’s decision to dismiss the applicant’s appeal on H&C grounds under section s.67(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, on the basis that the applicant had engaged in ...