Ottawa, Ontario, June 12, 2006
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Barnes
BETWEEN:
DEYSSE JHANET VELANDIA BARON
and
AND IMMIGRATION
SUPPLEMENTAL REASONS FOR JUDGMENT AND JUDGMENT
[1] At the conclusion of the hearing of this matter held on April 19, 2006, I allowed the parties seven (7) days after the rendering of my Reasons for Judgment and Judgment dated May 16, 2006 to consider the issue of certifying a question. Counsel for the Applicant has done so and proposed two questions as follows:
1. Before seeking protection from another state, is a person required to make reasonable lifestyle changes demanded by the agent of persecution to reduce the risk of harm?
2. What is the test for determining whether a lifestyle change or choice is reasonable?
[2] Counsel for the Respondent opposed the certification of a question stating that the underlying issues which arise from my decision have already been resolved at least with respect to the existence of internal flight alternatives. He states that the jurisprudence " is applicable with the same force to the facts of the present case". He also asserts that cases like this tend to be quite fact-specific which reduces the precedential value of any decision made in the area.
[3] While I tend to agreed that the circumstances of this case are similar to those for which considerable jurisprudence does exist, that similarity appears to me to arise largely by analogy. In the result, some guidance from the Court of Appeal could be of additional value in subsequent cases. Accordingly, I will certify a question in this case but framed in a different way to the questions proposed by the Applicant. The question that I will certify is as follows:
Before seeking protection from another state, is a person obliged to make lifestyle or employment changes which would offer protection from persecution or which could protect the life and safety of a claimant and, if so, what is the test for making a such determination?
JUDGMENT
THIS COURT ADJUDGES that the following question be certified in this case:
Before seeking protection from another state, is a person obliged to make lifestyle or employment changes which would offer protection from persecution or which could protect the life and safety of a claimant and, if so, what is the test for making a such determination?
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-3818-05
STYLE OF CAUSE: LUIS MIGUEL TRUJILLOSANCHEZ
DEYSSE JHANET VELANDIA BARON
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Toronto, Ontario
DATE OF HEARING: April 19, 2006
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
DATED: June 12, 2006
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Timothy Wichert for the Applicant
Mr. Bernard Assan for the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Jackman & Associates for the Applicant
Barristers & Solicitors
Toronto, Ontario
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA for the Respondent
Department of Justice
Toronto, Ontario