November 26, 2012
Update: Federal Skilled Worker Litigation Test Cases to be Heard in Toronto January 14-16th, 2013
Update: Federal Skilled Worker Litigation Test Cases to be Heard in Toronto January 14-16th, 2013
There have been some important new developments in our legal case against Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to stop them from terminating your Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) application for a Canadian permanent resident visa. These new developments are technical in nature and I believe they will NOT impact our case in a negative way.
We were scheduled to make preliminary arguments in our Class Action case in Federal Court on November 23, 2012. If we would have succeeded in our preliminary arguments, the Court then would have scheduled a future date for next steps and the future date likely would have been months from now.
Instead, we will proceed by way of a “test case”. The Court has made dates available (January 14th through January 16th, 2013) in Toronto, during which time lawyers including David Cohen and myself will have the opportunity to present arguments. This will allow us to have “our day in court” much sooner than if we had proceeded by way of a Class Action and in the end the result will be the same for our clients.
A test case is different from a Class Action. In a test case, a lawyer has the chance to present arguments on behalf of one client. The decision the Court renders in the test case will also apply to the other clients represented by the lawyer under the same circumstances.
The thrust of our argument is that the intended action of CIC (termination of the applications) is unconstitutional on the grounds that it is discriminatory against individuals based on their country of origin (Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms). If the Court decides in our favor then the law empowering CIC to terminate the applications will be struck down. This outcome would apply not only to the test case but to all of the other clients we are representing in this matter as well.
In anticipation of having our test case heard by the Court in mid-January, 2013, we have adjourned (not withdrawn) our Class Action case. If, for any reason, CIC takes any action to begin terminating applications before there is a decision on our test case, we would go back to the Court on the Class Action case and ask for an order that would require CIC to refrain from destroying the integrity of the Class. Should you receive a notice from CIC before January 13, 2013 informing you that your application has been terminated you must contact our office immediately.
A pre-hearing conference is likely to take place during the week of December 10th, 2012.
I will advise you again as and when there is any news involving our court case on your behalf.
Note: Campbell Cohen has sent out the same message.