IMM-156-97
BETWEEN:
MARIA JOYCE FRANCIS
and
CLEAVON FRANCIS,
Applicants,
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR ORDER
NOËL, J.:
This is an application for a stay of the removal order issued against the Applicants which is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, January 15, 1997. The decision subject to judicial review is that of the Expulsion Officer who, on January 10, 1997 advised counsel for the Applicant that she could not defer the removal simply because an "H. & C." Application has recently been filed on behalf of the Applicants and remained pending. The record reveals that when the arrangements for removal were made on December 10, 1996 the Expulsion Officer was not aware of the existence of the "H. & C." Application which was filed on the same day.
I do not believe that the application for judicial review raises a serious issue. All that the Expulsion Officer conveyed to counsel for the Applicants was that it was not the policy of her department to defer a removal order simply because an "H. & C." Application had been filed and that the application would be considered in the normal course. To the extent that this can be viewed as a decision for purposes of section 18.1 of the Federal Court Act, it is obviously proper. To hold otherwise would, in effect, allow claimants to automatically and unilaterally stay the execution of validly issued removal orders at their will and leisure by the filing of the appropriate application. This result is obviously not one which Parliament intended.
In so concluding, I stress that this is not a case where the Department's bureaucracy can in any way be faulted for not having disposed of the "H. & C." Application in a timely fashion. If the Applicants wanted to insure that their application would be heard prior to their removal, it was incumbent upon them to apply earlier.1
The application is accordingly dismissed.
Marc Noël
Judge
Ottawa, Ontario
January 14, 1997
__________________1 The removal order had been in existence since May 8, 1993.
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF SOLICITORS AND SOLICITORS ON THE RECORD
COURT FILE NO.: IMM-156-97
STYLE OF CAUSE: Maria Joyce Francis et al. v. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
PLACE OF HEARING: Ottawa, Ontario Toronto, Ontario
DATE OF TELECONFERENCE: January 14, 1997 REASONS FOR ORDER BY: The Honourable Mr. Justice Noël DATED: January 14, 1997
APPEARANCES:
Ms Geraldine Sadoway FOR THE APPLICANT
Ms Marissa Beata Bielski FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS ON THE RECORD:
Ms Geraldine Sadoway FOR THE APPLICANT Toronto, Ontario
Mr. George Thomson FOR THE RESPONDENT Deputy Attorney General of Canada