Refugee board posting under fire
Minister didn't know of past work with ex-Haitian prez
Posté: 2009 Mar 11 - 07:45
• OTTAWA -- How did a top official in a government denounced for human rights abuses end up being appointed to the tribunal that decides Canada's refugee claims?
And what do you do with him now?
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney found himself struggling to answer those questions yesterday following the revelation that Phares Pierre, one of the people he appointed to the Montreal section of the Immigration and Refugee Board last month, is a former chief of staff to ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide.
Pierre has also been active in past years with the Conservative party.
While Liberal MP Denis Coderre and Bloc Quebecois MP Thierry St. Cyr called on Kenney to axe Pierre's appointment, Kenney said he only learned of the appointee's past yesterday morning.
"I have to say that I take the final responsibility for nominations that I make to cabinet. If I had known his background in Haiti it is very probable that I would not have made a recommendation to cabinet."
But what the government does now isn't clear. Kenney's first step yesterday was to contact the head of the IRB to see if there was a shortcoming in the nomination process. However, since Pierre has been appointed by cabinet, cabinet would have to revoke his appointment, he said.
Currently, in the eastern region there are 5,713 refugee cases from Haiti waiting for a decision, IRB spokesman Stephane Malepart said, most of them in the Montreal area.
Stephane Handfield, vice-president of Quebec's association of immigration lawyers and a former IRB commissioner, said Pierre's involvement with Aristide's dictatorship tarnishes his credibility to hear any refugee claim. |