Ottawa, Ontario, September 11, 2006
PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Phelan
BETWEEN:
and
AND IMMIGRATION
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] The Applicant has appealed a decision of a Citizenship Judge denying her citizenship application on the grounds that she did not “regularly, normally or customarily” live in Canada.
[2] The Applicant has brought a motion to supplement the Applicant’s Record by adding an affidavit from an immigration consultant. That affidavit attaches as an exhibit a “Book of Documents” provided to the Respondent during the settlement of the Respondent’s appeal at the Immigration and Refugee Board in respect of her spouse.
[3] The Applicant asks that this affidavit be admitted to respond to a FOSS note in the Certified Tribunal Record which suggests that an informant has advised Canadian authorities that the Applicant’s business in Iran was fraudulent.
[4] In the Application before this Court the Applicant argues that there was a breach of procedural fairness in that the Applicant was not provided with an opportunity to reply to the extrinsic evidence of the FOSS note.
[5] It is not the role of this Court in the appeal to retry the case before the Citizenship Judge. It is impossible to see the relevance of the FOSS note to the Citizenship Judge’s decision. If it was relevant and the Applicant was denied an opportunity to deal with the evidence, it is likely immaterial if the note is true or false.
[6] The material fact of denial of the opportunity can be made out more simply than filing an affidavit of a third party which contains a host of documents. The immigration consultant’s affidavit does not even speak to the truth of the FOSS note allegation and its evidentiary value on the issue of the legitimacy of the Iranian business is highly questionable.
[7] Therefore, the Applicant’s motion is dismissed with leave to file an amended Application Record with the affidavit and attachments removed and with a revised Memorandum of Argument as may be appropriate.
ORDER
IT IS ORDERED THAT the Applicant’s motion is dismissed with leave to file an amended Application Record with the affidavit and attachments removed and with a revised Memorandum of Argument as may be appropriate.
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: T-2197-05
STYLE OF CAUSE: ZAHRA MOHAMMADGHASEMI
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE AND
DATE OF HEARING: Motion made in writing under Rule 369
APPEARANCES:
Ms. Wennie Lee
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Mr. Jamie Todd
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SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
LEE & COMPANY Barristers & Solicitors Toronto, Ontario
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MR. JOHN H. SIMS, Q.C. Deputy Attorney General of Canada Toronto, Ontario
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