RE: AGM, Call for volunteers and Amendment to December 3, 2020 Agenda

The RLA is looking for members to join the executive. If you would be interested in joining the executive please contact us.

The Executive has decided to form a new “Submissions Working Group” to work on preparing written proposals and responses to consultation paper requests from the IRB, Federal Court, and other government agencies.  

This working group would be a roster of volunteers willing to be called on to take the lead in preparing draft submissions.  Individual members would only take on what they specifically volunteer for, and could identify in advance what type of issues they want to work on (or identify when they are/are not available, etc.).

Volunteers could pick a topic they prepare a submission on or agree to take the lead on preparing a response, then forward a draft of written submissions.  The Executive would set out the timelines and process for consultation and final approval, with the ideal being consultation with the relevant RLA committee and distribution for comment to the listserv, then final approval by the Executive.  (The Executive may vary the process, ie. if we are coordinating with other advocacy groups).

Lastly, in light of the LSO’s law summit (Day 2) and the RPD’s meeting on Virtual Hearings Project – Information session, we have decided to shorten our educational. Therefore, we will not be covering the topic of Remote Hearings.

The presentation on Covid-19 Risk management presented by LawPro has been accredited with 30 minutes of professionalism hours and will be the only presentation before our AGM. 

A copy of the Agenda is enclosed below.

If you have not signed up yet you can sign up here: https://forms.gle/fGboSqQH5od5nLJWA

If you have any questions, please let us know,

Regards

For registration please click here: https://forms.gle/qs8WzQzyocZLgGKx5

A Zoom Invitation will be sent out subsequently.

45 minutes of substantive hours can be claimed. We are still waiting for CPD accreditation from the LSO for 30 minutes of Professionalism hours. We will advise everyone as soon as we hear back from the LSO.

If you have any questions or issues please contact us.

Regards

LOCATION: Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), 192 Spadina Ave (Queen & Spadina)

CPD Hours: To be confirmed

To register for this event, pay the appropriate fee by e-Transfer to refugeelawyersassociation@gmail.com.

5:00pm –5:15pm: Welcome and Introduction to Speakers

Panel I: 5:15pm–6:15pm
Panelists: Joshua Blum; Jared Will & Associates; Constance Nakatsu, Barrister and Solicitor

Topic: Statelessness and Citizenship (Joshua Blum)
-How does statelessness occur?
-Difference between de jure statelessness and de facto statelessness
-Country of former habitual residence
-Issues and strategies for Palestinians, including the right of return
-Obtaining identity documents for stateless persons
-Removal issues

Topic: Citizenship (Constance Nakatsu)
-Country of nationality: what does this mean?
-The obligation to seek citizenship of a second country
-Navigating potential citizenship by virtue of jus sanguinis
-The impact of rendering individuals stateless before seeking citizenship of a second country
-Issues and strategies for Tibetans

6:15pm–6:25pm: Questions and answers for Panel One

6:25pm–6:45pm: BREAK. Light Dinner to be Served

Panel II: 6:45pm–7:45pm
Panelists: Sandra M. González Ponce, Barrister and Solicitor; LSO representative [tentative]

Topic: Domestic Law Expert Opinions (Sandra M. González Ponce)
-Intersections between child protection, criminal law, and refugee law
-Race, status, and child protection proceedings
-The obligation to obtain advice from lawyers in other practice areas where there will be an impact on a refugee proceeding

Topic: LSO Complaint Process
-What is the process for an LSO complaint, particularly within the investigative process?
-Is there an obligation for investigators to interview clients or the impugned counsel?
-What are the timelines for a complaint?
-Is the situation of the client taken into consideration, i.e., is the LSO process faster if the client is about to face removal?
-Does the LSO take into consideration the nature and number of past complaints against the impugned counsel when assessing new complaints?
-What is the line between a frivolous and non-frivolous complaint?

7:45pm–7:55pm: Questions and answers for Panel Two

7:55–8:15pm: Annual General Meeting of the RLA

Media Release – Refugee advocates applaud Prime Minister Trudeau for refugee and immigrant legal aid announcement

Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) & Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario (RLA)

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) and the Refugee Lawyers Association (RLA) of Ontario congratulate and applaud Prime Minister Trudeau for today’s announcement addressing the refugee and immigration legal aid crisis in Ontario, and increasing refugee and immigration legal aid funding across the country.

“Refugees and immigrants in Ontario have been facing a crisis,” said Maureen Silcoff, President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), “The Ontario government abruptly cancelled the refugee and immigration legal aid program in April 2019. No one who is facing torture in a repressive regime, no woman who ran away from severe domestic violence in a country without protections, no LGBTQ2S individual who fled to save her life, should be subject to high-stakes legal proceedings without legal counsel.”

“Canada’s complex refugee system is nearly impossible to navigate without legal representation – all the more so for individuals who arrive in Canada with nothing, who are traumatized,” said Raoul Boulakia, a member of the Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario’s Executive, “timely restoration of legal aid funding was critical to protect vulnerable individuals. We welcome today’s announcement”.

“The legal aid system is essential to the refugee and immigration systems. The funding crisis that resulted from Ontario’s reckless cuts created an untenable situation,” said Maureen Silcoff, President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL). “The province still has a critical role to play in funding legal aid services – and we hope they will step up to their responsibilities, be it in this fiscal year or next.”

“Funding for legal aid’s immigration and refugee program has always been shared between the provincial and federal governments. The Ford government’s reckless cuts left vulnerable people in crisis.” said Raoul Boulakia, a member of the Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario’s Executive, “we applaud this announcement from the federal government, which is right to step in to avoid such irreparable harm to immigrants and refugees.”

Background:

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has traditionally provided Ontarians living below the poverty line of $17,000 in annual income with access to a lawyer for meritorious refugee and immigration cases.

On April 11, 2019, the Government of Ontario told LAO it could not use provincial money for any refugee and immigration cases.

Media Inquiries:

Erin Simpson – erin@erinsimpsonlaw.com   416-363-1696 ext. 103     647-406-1341

Women fleeing domestic violence in their home country will be among the hardest hit by this crisis. Because recent changes in the US have shut the door on asylum for women making gender-based claims, they are without protection in the US. Now, when they arrive in Canada, they will be barred from the refugee process here too and deprived of access to a legal aid lawyer to navigate the inferior process the federal government has put in place. 

“The result of the Canadian changes is clear: women survivors of domestic violence now have fewer protections in Canada, which places them at risk of deportation to the very dangers they fled,” said Jenn McIntyre, Executive Director of Romero House. 

LGBTQ2IQS individuals are also at a high risk of being sent home to face violence because of the combination of the new refugee bar and the absence of legal aid. 

“It has been two months now since the Ford government cancelled legal aid for refugees and immigrants, and the federal government has taken no concrete action to address the absence of counsel for vulnerable individuals in refugee and immigration proceedings” said Raoul Boulakia, a member of the Refugee Lawyers Association Executive. “Yet the federal government has invested considerable new resources in deportations and, with the passage of the budget bill, has truncated the protections available to refugee claimants. The combined effect is a juggernaut for vulnerable individuals subject to refugee and immigration proceedings in federal courts and tribunals.”

“Legal aid is critical to the integrity and efficiency of the refugee process,” said Maureen Silcoff, President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL). “The Ford government was reckless to cancel its funding for the program, but two months later, that’s no justification for the federal government’s total lack of action. The Federal government oversees the refugee determination system. It cannot pretend to be a bystander here.”

Media Inquiries:
Erin Simpson – erin@erinsimpsonlaw.com   
416-363-1696 ext. 103 / 647-406-1341

BACKGROUND:
———————
The Ontario legal aid crisis is about to become more acute than ever because of the changes to the system. The Budget Implementation Act makes all individuals who filed a refugee claim in the US, or other “Five Eyes” countries, ineligible to make a claim for refugee protection in Canada. These new rules apply regardless of whether the individual’s previous claim was ever considered or decided, or whether protection was actually available. Individuals who are found ineligible are left to make their case for protection in Canada through the inferior “pre-removal risk assessment” process, which has an extremely low acceptance rate. 

For these individuals, it is a federal Immigration officer alone who will decide whether they need protection from torture or serious harm if they are deported to their home country. While Minister Bill Blair has indicated that basic rights will be respected in this process through a hearing, with counsel, there is in fact no real opportunity for most individuals to obtain counsel. The federal government is forging ahead despite knowing that in Ontario, which handles the majority of these cases, people won’t have lawyers because the Provincial government has entirely withdrawn funding for legal aid for refugees and immigrants. 

Refugees need lawyers now more than ever so they won’t be removed to face persecution. Refugee advocates are calling on the federal government to provide immediate emergency funding to the legal aid program; and on both levels of government to meet quickly to begin serious negotiations on a new funding formula. 

Please see more information below and a guide to help you set up a meeting with your MPP.