Date: 20040520
Docket: IMM-2304-03
Citation: 2004 FC 706
BETWEEN:
ROBERT SLIM
Applicant
- and -
MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the IRB), dated March 6, 2003, that the applicant is not a Convention refugee or a "person in need of protection" within the meaning of sections 96 and 97, respectively, of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27.
[2] Robert Slim (the applicant) is a citizen of Lebanon and alleges that he is a Convention refugee and a "person in need of protection" on the basis of his membership in a particular social group, namely homosexuals.
[3] The applicant, a hairdresser-turned-dancer with an internationally renowned troupe, was not found to be credible. In support of his opinion that "despite some restrictions, it is possible for the claimant to live as a homosexual, as he apparently did during all of the last years he spent in Lebanon. . . .", the panel member expressed the following in his decision, among other things:
. . . Moreover, it is surprising that the claimant did not have any problems with the authorities even though his appearance and his artistic and occupational activities over many years might have suggested a tendency or orientation other than heterosexual.
[4] It is important to note that these comments are those of the member himself, and not those of the witness Jihad Noassan, which are referred to distinctly in the decision.
[5] Whether it is expressed consciously or not, this kind of stereotypical consideration, entirely based on the appearance and the artistic and occupational activities of an individual, is unfortunately such that it fosters unacceptable prejudice toward homosexuals and cannot be used to discredit the applicant's stated fear of being persecuted by the Lebanese authorities on the basis of his sexual orientation. In my view, comments such as these, under the circumstances, vitiate the whole decision at issue.
[6] Accordingly, the application for judicial review is allowed, the decision by the IRB, dated March 6, 2003, is set aside and the matter referred to a differently constituted panel for redetermination.
[7] In view of these reasons, the questions for certification proposed by the applicant are not determinative. There is therefore no question to be certified.
"Yvon Pinard"
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
May 20, 2004
Certified true translation
Kelley A. Harvey, BA, BCL, LLB
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-2304-03
STYLE OF CAUSE: ROBERT SLIM v. MINISTER OF
CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: April 21, 2004
REASONS FOR ORDER: Pinard J.
DATE OF REASONS: May 20, 2004
APPEARANCES:
Noël Saint-Pierre
Sébastien Dubois FOR THE APPLICANT
Sébastien Dasylva FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Saint-Pierre, Grenier FOR THE APPLICANT
Montréal, Quebec
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
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