Date:
20130705
Docket:
IMM-7571-12
Citation:
2013 FC 753
Ottawa, Ontario,
July 5, 2013
PRESENT: The
Honourable Mr. Justice Scott
BETWEEN:
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MOHAMAD RASHID YOUSIF
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Applicant
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and
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THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
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Respondent
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REASONS FOR
JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT
I. Introduction
[1]
This
is an application for judicial review, pursuant to section 72 of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 [IRPA], of a decision
rendered by the Immigration and Refugee Board, Refugee Protection Division (the
Board) on June 28, 2012, determining that Mr. Mohamad Rashid Yousif (the
Applicant) is not a Convention Refugee nor a person in need of protection under
sections 96 and 97 of the IRPA. The determinative issue for the Board
was credibility.
[2]
For
the reasons that follow, the application is allowed.
II. Facts
[3]
The
Applicant is a Syrian citizen of Kurdish descent.
[4]
In
his Personal Information Form [PIF], the Applicant claims that one of his older
brothers, Seyed Ahmed, has been involved in Kurdish folkloric activities and was
arrested by Syrian authorities while participating in Newroz festivities in or
around 1990. He was detained for approximately two months and then expelled
from high school. The brother later joined the peshmerga (Kurdish
resistance) and was killed in combat in 1993.
[5]
The
Applicant also claims that another one of his brothers, Mohamad Fayek, was
arrested by military security while he was serving in the Syrian army further
to an argument with an officer. He was allegedly beaten, abused and sent to Al
Tadmour prison where he was imprisoned and tortured for fourteen months. Once
released from prison, the Applicant’s family purportedly received a letter from
Mohamad Fayek indicating that he too had joined the peshmerga. The
Applicant explains that it was Mohamad Fayek that informed the family of Seyed
Ahmed’s death. The Applicant and his family have had no contact with Mohamad
Fayek since they received his letter.
[6]
The
Applicant alleges that the mukhabarat (Syrian Intelligence) seemed to
know of Mohamad Fayek’s involvement with the peshmerga and on several
occasions took his father and older brother, Mohamad Khaled, away for
questioning. The two were allegedly beaten and abused throughout.
[7]
The
Applicant took Kurdish lessons with an Iraqi Kurd. In the winter of 1995, the
house where the Applicant took his lessons was raided by the mukhabarat.
The Applicant was detained for three months during which time he was beaten and
doused with cold water.
[8]
The
Applicant served in the Syrian army from September 2000 to March 2003. After
completing his military service, the Applicant became interested in the Yekiti party,
a banned political group which promotes Kurdish rights. The Applicant’s father
was concerned about his son’s involvement with that party and urged him to
leave Syria. In January 2005, the Applicant fled to Greece, crossing illegally
into the country through Turkey.
[9]
The
Applicant indicates that he applied for refugee status in Greece and was allowed to remain in the country on a temporary basis so long as he renewed
his status every six months. The Applicant’s status in Greece did not permit him to work. The Applicant claims that mukhabarat questioned
his family about his whereabouts while he was in Greece.
[10]
After
two years in Greece, the Applicant wanted to return to Syria. Before he returned, his brother paid to receive information as to whether the
Applicant was officially wanted by the mukhabarat. Despite the
encouraging news, the Applicant nevertheless decided to re-enter Syria surreptitiously.
[11]
Upon
arriving home, the Applicant pursued his interest in the Kurdish cause,
obtained Yekiti literature, attended meetings in various houses and also
donated money to the Yekiti party.
[12]
On
September 15, 2008, the mukhabarat conducted a search of the Applicant’s
home and found some of his books on Kurdish history and language. They arrested
and detained him until November 2, 2008. While in detention, the Applicant was
beaten and abused.
[13]
On
December 24, 2008, the Applicant was arrested yet again after being found in
possession of a Yekiti brochure. The Applicant was interrogated, insulted and
badly abused. The Applicant’s brother was able to secure his release on
February 26, 2009 after paying a bribe. The Applicant was released on condition
that he report to the mukhabarat when required and inform them of any
change of address.
[14]
The
Applicant was afraid of having to report to the mukhabarat as he had
heard of others in a similar situation being jailed for years. In order to
lower his profile, the Applicant moved and began farming work. After a few
months had passed, the mukhabarat came to the Applicant’s house searching
for him. They apparently wanted him to sign a document acknowledging an
upcoming court date. Upon hearing this, the Applicant decided to leave Syria.
[15]
With
the help of a smuggler, the Applicant fled the country on May 17, 2010 and
headed to Greece. Because of his previous experiences living in Greece, the Applicant made his way to Canada and arrived on June 24, 2010.
III. Legislation
[16]
Sections
96 and 97 of the IRPA provide as follows:
Convention
refugee
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Définition
de « réfugié »
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96. A Convention
refugee is a person who, by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social
group or political opinion,
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96. A qualité de réfugié au sens de la
Convention — le réfugié — la personne qui, craignant avec raison d’être
persécutée du fait de sa race, de sa religion, de sa nationalité, de son
appartenance à un groupe social ou de ses opinions politiques :
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(a) is outside each of
their countries of nationality and is unable or, by reason of that fear,
unwilling to avail themself of the protection of each of those countries; or
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a) soit se trouve hors de tout pays dont
elle a la nationalité et ne peut ou, du fait de cette crainte, ne veut se
réclamer de la protection de chacun de ces pays;
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(b) not having a country
of nationality, is outside the country of their former habitual residence and
is unable or, by reason of that fear, unwilling to return to that country.
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b) soit, si elle n’a pas de nationalité
et se trouve hors du pays dans lequel elle avait sa résidence habituelle, ne
peut ni, du fait de cette crainte, ne veut y retourner.
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Person
in need of protection
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Personne
à protéger
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97.
(1)
A person in need of protection is a person in Canada whose removal to their
country or countries of nationality or, if they do not have a country of
nationality, their country of former habitual residence, would subject them
personally
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97.
(1) A
qualité de personne à protéger la personne qui se trouve au Canada et serait
personnellement, par son renvoi vers tout pays dont elle a la nationalité ou,
si elle n’a pas de nationalité, dans lequel elle avait sa résidence
habituelle, exposée :
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(a) to a danger,
believed on substantial grounds to exist, of torture within the meaning of
Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture; or
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a) soit au risque, s’il y a des
motifs sérieux de le croire, d’être soumise à la torture au sens de l’article
premier de la Convention contre la torture;
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(b) to a risk to their
life or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if
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b) soit à une menace à sa vie ou
au risque de traitements ou peines cruels et inusités dans le cas suivant :
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(i) the person is unable or, because of that risk,
unwilling to avail themself of the protection of that country,
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(i) elle ne peut ou, de ce
fait, ne veut se réclamer de la protection de ce pays,
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(ii) the risk would be faced by
the person in every part of that country and is not faced generally by other
individuals in or from that country,
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(ii) elle y est exposée en tout
lieu de ce pays alors que d’autres personnes originaires de ce pays ou qui
s’y trouvent ne le sont généralement pas,
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(iii) the risk is not inherent
or incidental to lawful sanctions, unless imposed in disregard of accepted
international standards, and
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(iii) la menace ou le risque ne
résulte pas de sanctions légitimes — sauf celles infligées au mépris des
normes internationales — et inhérents à celles-ci ou occasionnés par elles,
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(iv) the risk is not caused by
the inability of that country to provide adequate health or medical care.
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(iv) la menace ou le risque ne
résulte pas de l’incapacité du pays de fournir des soins médicaux ou de santé
adéquats.
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Person
in need of protection
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Personne à protéger
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(2) A person in Canada who is a member of a class of persons prescribed by the regulations as being in need of
protection is also a person in need of protection.
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(2)
A
également qualité de personne à protéger la personne qui se trouve au Canada
et fait partie d’une catégorie de personnes auxquelles est reconnu par
règlement le besoin de protection.
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IV. Issues
and standard of review
A. Issues
1. Was
there a breach of procedural fairness as a result of the interpretation issues
during the hearing?
2. Did
the Board err in making its credibility finding?
3. Did
the Board err in assessing the objective, documentary evidence?
B. Standard
of review
[17]
In
Zaree v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2011 FC 889 at
para 7 [Zaree], Justice Martineau held that “it is … necessary for the
refugee claimant to be heard and for his account to be understood by the panel
in the first place. Therefore, the quality of the translation before the panel
on its own can raise an issue of procedural fairness, and it is the standard of
correctness that applies in such cases”.
[18]
The
standard of review applicable to the Board’s credibility findings is
reasonableness (Wu v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration),
2009 FC 929 at para 18; Elmi v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), 2008 FC 773, at para 21; Aguebor v Canada (Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration), [1993] FCJ No 732 (FCA)).
[19]
The
third issue relates to the Board’s assessment of the facts and is therefore to
be reviewed on the standard of reasonableness (Dunsmuir v New Brunswick,
2008 SCC 9, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190 at para 53; Muhari v Canada (Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration), 2011 FC 27).
V. Parties’
submissions
A. Applicant’s
submissions
[20]
The
Applicant submits that there was breach of his right to procedural fairness as
a result of serious problems with the quality of interpretation during his
hearing. The Federal Court of Appeal in Mohammadian v Canada (Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration), 2001 FCA 191 [Mohammadian] held that
refugee claimants appearing before the Board are entitled to interpretation
that is “continuous, precise, competent, impartial and contemporaneous” and
that applicants are not required to prove that they’ve been prejudiced in order
to demonstrate a breach of that right (Mohammadian, at para 4). However,
as this Court found in Xu v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration),
2007 FC 274 at para 12:
“As important as this right is, the burden on a
person raising interpretation issues is significant. Such a claim must overcome
the presumption that a translator, who has taken an oath to provide faithful
translation, has acted in a manner contrary to the oath. Simply alleging
mistranslation will not be sufficient – the burden is to show that on a balance
of probabilities mis-translation occurred.”
[21]
The
Applicant submits that he and Mr. Huseyin Sertkaya (a certified interpreter in
Kurdish and Turkish at the Board) have provided Affidavits asserting serious
mistakes and discrepancies in the interpreter’s work.
[22]
Although
the Applicant contends he need not establish that he was prejudiced as a result
of the poor interpretation, he notes that he did suffer a prejudice in this
case. The Applicant points out that the Board’s negative credibility findings
were based on his “evasiveness”, “non-responsiveness”, “poor demeanour” and the
fact that the Applicant had to be asked the same question several times before
he answered. The Applicant contends that all of these issues were the result of
poor interpretation. Given that the Board’s decision was based solely on
credibility, the Applicant argues that he suffered a significant prejudice as a
result of the poor quality of the interpretation.
[23]
The
Applicant acknowledges that the Federal Court of Appeal, in Mohammadian,
cited above, held that an Applicant will be found to have waived his rights to
competent interpretation if they do not object to its poor quality at the first
opportunity during the hearing. At paragraph 18, the Court stated as follows:
“As Pelletier J. observed, if the appellant's
argument is correct a claimant experiencing difficulty with the quality of the
interpretation at a hearing could do nothing throughout the entire hearing and
yet be able to successfully attack the determination at some later date.
Indeed, where a claimant choses [sic] to do nothing despite his or her
concern with the quality of the interpretation, the Refugee Division would
itself have no way of knowing that the interpretation was in any respect
deficient. The claimant is always in the best position to know whether the
interpretation is accurate and to make any concern with respect to accuracy
known to the Refugee Division during the course of the hearing, unless there
are exceptional circumstances for not doing so” [Applicant’s emphasis].
[24]
In
the present case, the Applicant’s counsel objected to the assigned interpreter
before the hearing because he knew that particular interpreter to have poor
English language skills. The Board attempted to find another interpreter but
failed to do so. The Board then indicated that the assigned interpreter was
accredited and that they would proceed with him.
[25]
Because
the Applicant’s English is limited, he was unable to assess whether the
interpreter was translating his testimony in a continuous, precise, competent,
impartial and contemporaneous manner. He only realized how poor it was when he
reviewed the decision of the Panel and then reviewed the audio recording of the
hearing. Although the Applicant’s friend was present as an observer and
informed the Applicant’s counsel that he noticed some errors, the Applicant’s
counsel told him that there was nothing that he could do, having already
objected before the hearing and been told that the interpreter was accredited
and that the hearing would proceed with that interpreter. The Applicant alleges
that, being unaware of the seriousness of the errors in interpretation and that
his counsel objected prior to the commencement of the hearing, the Court should
not find that he waived his right to object to the quality of the
interpretation.
[26]
The
Applicant’s next claim is that the Board erred in making its credibility
finding. The Board drew an adverse inference from the Applicant’s failure to
indicate in his PIF narrative that he had received medical attention for the
injuries he suffered during his third detention. The Applicant submits that the
fact he adduced a medical note after the hearing to support his allegation that
he was mistreated should dismiss the Board’s adverse finding.
[27]
The
medical note in question was written by Dr. Jamal Al Hussein. In it, he
indicates that the Applicant “had signs of torture on his body and traces on
the skin”. The Board’s decision to assign this little weight and to draw a
negative inference because of the Applicant’s failure to mention his visit with
the doctor in his PIF is unreasonable according to the Applicant as the Board
did not question the authenticity of the doctor’s note. He further argues that it
constitutes a corroborative document that supports his claim that he was abused
by the Syrian authorities.
[28]
Regarding
the Board’s negative credibility finding based on the Applicant’s failure to
indicate at the Port of Entry that he had been detained in 1995, the Applicant
submits that the Board failed to address his counsel’s statement that the
omission was of little relevance to the Applicant’s fears in 2010, as it was
the Applicant’s last two detentions in 2008 that prompted him to fear for his
safety and flee Syria.
[29]
The
Applicant’s final contention is that the Board erred in law by failing to
assess whether he satisfied the subjective and objective components of the test
for refugee status even though it had found him not credible.
[30]
The
Applicant contends that a finding that an applicant is not credible is not
determinative of the question of whether or not he is a Convention refugee.
Rather, even if the Board finds an applicant not credible, it must still assess
whether he meets the subjective or objective components of a Convention refugee
definition based on the objective documentary evidence adduced.
[31]
In
the case at bar, the evidence before the Board was that the Applicant’s two
brothers had allegedly joined the Kurdish peshmerga in order to fight
for Kurdistan and the Kurdish people. Moreover, the evidence was that if the
Applicant’s case was refused and he was returned to Syria, he would be
returning to that country as a failed asylum seeker.
[32]
Although
the Board assessed whether the Applicant would be at risk on the basis of his
Kurdish ethnicity, it failed to assess whether the objective documentary
evidence established that the Applicant would be at risk in Syria as a result of his membership in a particular social group, being his family and a failed
asylum seeker.
[33]
The
documentary evidence before the Board indicated that family members of
politically active Kurds in Syria face interrogation, harassment, detention,
pressure and intimidation from the Syrian authorities. Moreover, the evidence
indicated that failed asylum seekers face detention and interrogation,
including a danger of torture, upon return to Syria. This evidence should have
been addressed by the Board in its assessment of the Applicant’s claim. By failing
to do so, the Board has erred in law.
B. Respondent’s
submissions
[34]
Before
responding to the Applicant’s arguments, the Respondent provided the following
summary of the elements the Board based its credibility findings on:
“(a) In his PIF and oral testimony, the Applicant
alleged that in 1995, when he was 14 years-old, he was detained and physically
abused for three months. However, he was unable to corroborate this alleged
detention with any documentation. The Board also noted that the Applicant
failed to mention this detention in Question 37 of his IMM 5611. The Applicant
was unable to adequately explain this omission.
(b) The Applicant alleged that in 2005 he fled Syria and sought asylum in Greece. While he was likely not accepted as a refugee neither was he
asked to leave Greece. Nonetheless, the Applicant voluntarily re-availed to Syria, evading border controls as he believed it was still perilous for him there. The
Applicant was unable to adequately explain why he would voluntarily return to a
country that allegedly detained and abused him for three months.
(c) The Applicant was unable to corroborate, with
any form of documentation, that he ever made donations to the Yekiti Party or
that he was detained in 2008.
(d) The Applicant testified that he sought medical
attention for injuries he allegedly suffered during his detentions of 2008.
However, the Board noted that the Applicant failed to mention seeking such
medical attention in his PIF, as Question 31 specifically enjoined the
Applicant to do.
(e) At the hearing the Applicant amended paragraph
15 of his PIF narrative to state that his last alleged detention in Syria took place from December 24, 2008 to February 26, 2009, rather than January 24, 2009.
The Board noted that this amendment doubled the length of his alleged detention
and allowed his narrative to retroactively comport with the answer he gave in
his IMM5611. While the Applicant alleged that the error was the result of a
poor translator the Board found that explanation to be lacking.” (Respondent’s
further memorandum of arguments, pages 3 and 4)
[35]
As
to the first issue, the Respondent submits that the errors of interpretation
that occurred during the hearing were immaterial to the Board’s decision and,
as a result, the Court should not intervene. The Respondent relies on the
following passage from Marma v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), 2012 FC 777 [Marma] at para 30:
“I have reviewed each of the alleged errors and
failures in translation and am of the view that none impacted the Board’s
understanding of the testimonies or the basis for its specific credibility
findings. Since the errors were not material to the ultimate finding, this
Court should not intervene: Fu v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), 2011 FC 155 (CanLII), 2011 FC 155 at para 10.”
[36]
Even
if the Applicant establishes that the errors were material to the Board’s
decision, the Respondent contends that the Applicant waived his right to raise
the issue before this Court by failing to object to the poor interpretation at
the first opportunity during the hearing.
[37]
Regarding
the Applicant’s claim that his former counsel objected to the interpreter
before the hearing began, the Respondent argues that such an objection does not
meet the test which is to object to the quality of the interpretation at the
earliest opportunity. Such an objection must necessarily occur during
the hearing (i.e. when the interpretation errors are actual as opposed to
theoretical).
[38]
As
for the Applicant’s assertion that his responsibility to object during the
hearing was vitiated by his former counsel’s advice to the contrary, the
Respondent submits that such a claim lacks merit. For one, if the Applicant’s
former counsel was advised during the hearing that the interpretation was poor,
he had an ethical responsibility to object regardless of any pre-hearing
discussion. Second, if the Applicant is asserting that he would have objected
but for his former counsel’s advice, than what he is really asserting is that
his right to procedural fairness was breached due to his counsel’s incompetence.
[39]
The
Respondent underlines that this Court has held that “[a] litigant cannot
validly cite a professional fault on the part of his former counsel without
supplying the latter’s explanations regarding the error complained of and with
no evidence that the matter has been presented to the Bar of which the lawyer
is a member for investigation” (Gonzalez v Canada (Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration), 2006 FC 1274 at para 24). The Respondent points to the
lack of evidence that the Applicant ever attempted to do either in this case. The
Respondent consequently concludes that the Applicant is barred from raising the
issue of counsel’s incompetence and that he has also waived his right to raise
the issue of poor interpretation by failing to object at the very first
opportunity.
[40]
As
for the Applicant’s argument that the Board unreasonably drew a negative
inference from the fact that he failed to mention, in his PIF, having received medical
treatment further to his final detention, the Respondent insists that such an
inference falls within a range of possible outcomes.
[41]
The
Respondent submits that the negative inference is reasonable in light of 1) the
instructions under Question 31 of the PIF which reads: “. . . [s]tate whether
you have received any medical or psychological treatment or assessments in
Canada or elsewhere relating to your claim”; and 2) when the Board asked the
Applicant to explain the omission during the hearing, his response was “just
wrote down what happened in jail”, which was not an adequate explanation in
light of the PIF’s specific instructions.
[42]
On
the third issue, the Respondent argues that the Applicant’s contention that the
Board failed to adequately assess whether he would be at risk in Syria due to his family’s affiliation with Kurdish activists is without merit for two
reasons. First, the Board cannot be said to have failed to assess this risk
when, at paragraph 39 of its reasons, it stated that it has “rejected the allegations
that the claimant would be targeted because of his affiliation with his family,
which allegedly included Kurd activists and fighters”. Second, the Applicant
himself acknowledges that his evidence showed only that his brothers, “allegedly
joined the peshmerga”; accordingly, the Applicant cannot argue that he
has established the alleged risk to his family and thus cannot extrapolate that
risk to himself.
[43]
Finally,
the Respondent argues that the Applicant’s claim that the Board erred in
failing to assess his risk, as a failed refugee claimant, is also without merit
because neither the Applicant nor his former counsel raised this risk in his
PIF or post-hearing submissions. Where a claimant fails to raise an allegation
of risk, the Board is not required to canvas the documentary evidence for risk
factors on the claimant’s behalf. The Respondent cites the following passage
from Gabor v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC
1162 in support of this assertion:
[14] The applicant submits that a “long
line of decisions” (Sivalingam v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), 2006 FC 773 (CanLII), 2006 FC 773; Balasubramaniam v. Canada
(Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2003] F.C.J. No. 1438 (F.C.);
Satkunarajah v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2004] F.C.J.
No. 28 (F.C.); and Mylvaganam v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), [2000] F.C.J. No. 1195 (T.D.)) from the Federal Court have held
that once the Board accepts that a claimant is who they claim to be, the Board
has an obligation to canvass objective country condition materials
notwithstanding a negative credibility finding. The applicant says that since
the Board accepted that he was of Roma ethnicity, it was an error not to
consider country condition evidence.
[15] The applicant’s submission must fail
in light of the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Sellan v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2008 FCA 381 (CanLII), 2008 FCA 381,
wherein, in answering a certified question, the Court stated:
[W]here the Board makes a general finding that the
claimant lacks credibility, that determination is sufficient to dispose of the
claim unless there is independent and credible documentary evidence in the
record capable of supporting a positive disposition of the claim. The claimant
bears the onus of demonstrating there was such evidence.
[16] The applicant did not present any
“independent and credible documentary evidence” to the Board, and as the onus
rested upon him, the Board had no duty to canvass country condition evidence.
VI. Analysis
1. Was
there a breach of procedural fairness as a result of the interpretation issues
during the hearing?
[44]
The
first issue that needs to be addressed is whether the Applicant needs to show
that the interpretation failings had a direct influence on the Board’s
decision. Relying on the judgment in Mohammadian, cited above, the
Applicant argues that he doesn’t. Citing this Court’s decision in Marma,
cited above, the Respondent submits the opposite.
[45]
While
there is no need to establish a prejudice in order to prove a breach of
procedural fairness based on inadequate interpretation (see Mohammadian
cited above), the Applicant is required to demonstrate that the breach
of procedural fairness was material to the Board’s decision in order for this
Court to intervene (see Patel v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration), 2002 FCA 55 at para 12; Mobil Oil Canada Ltd v
Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 202 at paras
52-53).
[46]
The
Applicant argues that the difficulties encountered with the interpretation at
the hearing were material to the Board’s decision. More specifically, the
Applicant submits that the Board’s determinative credibility finding was based
on his “evasiveness”, “non-responsiveness” and “poor demeanour” which in turn resulted
from the poor quality of interpretation.
[47]
The
Court disagrees. The Board specifically mentions on more than one occasion in
its decision that it will not make a negative inference as to credibility from
the claimant’s poor demeanour or his non-responsiveness (cf. Reasons at paragraphs
15 and 33). The Board’s negative credibility finding stems in great part from the
lack of corroborative evidence adduced by the Applicant (see paragraphs 18, 20
and 29) and the fact that he omitted significant parts of his story in his PIF (see
paragraphs 23,27, 30 and 31). The Applicant has, therefore, failed to
demonstrate that the errors in the interpretation were material to the Board’s
determinative credibility finding.
[48]
Having
concluded that the quality of the translation was not determinative in the
present case, the question as to whether the Applicant waived his right to
raise the issue becomes academic. The Court would nonetheless underline that to
properly protect the Applicant’s right to raise the issue of inadequate
translation, the Applicant’s former counsel should, as a minimum, have insisted
that the objection he raised about the interpreter’s qualifications before the
hearing commenced, be recorded when the hearing began.
2. Did
the Board err in making its credibility finding?
[49]
The
Applicant’s claim was denied because of the Board’s negative credibility
finding. The Applicant argues that the Board’s negative credibility inferences are
based on his failure to indicate in his PIF narrative that he visited a doctor
after his detentions in 2008/2009. He submits that such a conclusion was
unreasonable. After the hearing before the Board, the Applicant adduced a note
from the doctor who treated him, Dr. Jamal Al Hussein. That evidence corroborated
his story of being detained and abused by the Syrian authorities. The Applicant
contends that the Board acted unreasonably in assigning less weight to the note
than it normally would have simply because the Applicant provided an inadequate
explanation for his failure to mention it in his PIF narrative. The exchange in
question went as follows:
“PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you. Sir, why did you not
mention this medical attention in your narrative, as is required in the
instructions to the narrative?
CLAIMANT: I just write down what happened
with me in the jail, how I be like, you know.” (Hearing’s transcript, page 289
of the Applicant’s Record)
[50]
Both
parties acknowledge that the authenticity of the doctor’s note was not
questioned by the Board. The Respondent contends that assigning less weight to
the note due to the Applicant’s failure to mention his visit to the doctor and
his non-responsive explanation for not doing so was reasonable. This Court
disagrees. While the note does not constitute conclusive evidence per se
that the Applicant’s story is true (i.e. that he was detained and abused by
Syrian authorities in 2008/2009), it is nonetheless a significant piece of corroborative
evidence. Its impact should not have been diminished for such insubstantial reasons.
[51]
As
the note’s authenticity was not questioned, then its weight should not have
been affected by the Applicant’s failure to mention his visit to the doctor in
his PIF or his inadequate explanation for not doing so. The Court finds that
the Board’s minimization of the weight assigned to the doctor’s note was capricious
and, therefore, unreasonable. While the Board did raise other credibility
concerns, it is impossible for the Court to determine what the outcome would
have been had the Board properly assessed the doctor’s note. As Justice Dawson
explained in Khan v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration),
2005 FC 1351 at para 9:
[9] I have considered the submissions of the
Minister that the panel's decision should not be set aside in light of other
credibility findings made by the panel. I am not prepared to speculate,
however, on what the outcome would have been had the panel not committed a
reviewable error with respect to the central element of Mr. Khan's claim.
[52]
The
Board committed a reviewable error by assigning little weight to a crucial
piece of corroborative evidence that went to the very heart of the Applicant’s
claim without reasonable justification. For that reason, this application is
allowed, the decision of the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and
Refugee Board dated June 28, 2012 is set aside and the application
is remitted for re-determination before a differently constituted panel of the
Refugee Protection Division.
[53]
Given
the Court’s conclusion on this second issue there is no need to address the other
issues raised by the Applicant.
JUDGMENT
THIS
COURT’S JUDGMENT is that
1. This
application for judicial review is allowed and the decision of the Refugee
Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board dated June 28, 2012 is
hereby set aside;
2.
The
decision is remitted for re-determination before a differently constituted
panel of the Refugee Protection Division; and
3.
There
is no question of general interest for certification.
"André F.J.
Scott"