The National Post – Thursday, August 1, 2002BY JANICE TIBBETTS OTTAWA BUREAU Inability to read shouldn’t prevent citizenship: ruling Ottawa – A judge has declared that illiteracy can be a mental disability and it should not prevent a Somali woman from becoming a Canadian citizen, even though she cannot learn either official language or answer basic questions about the country. Justice Michael Kelen, of the Federal Court of Canada, has ordered a citizenship judge to reconsider Faduma Hassan’s eight year quest to become a Canadian, taking into account evidence that the 55 year old Toronto woman has shown a “medical inability” to learn a new language. Mrs. Hassan, who came to Canada in 1994, has twice failed the test to become a citizen, despite taking daily English lessons. She has made little progress because she is illiterate and never attended school in Somalia, so she was never taught how to learn,…

The Toronto Star – Wednesday, July 14, 1999 BY VALERIE LAWTON OTTAWA BUREAU Woman was in Canada illegally for 11 years before being ordered out OTTAWA – Mavis Baker was in Canada illegally for 11 years – giving birth to four children – before immigration officials finally ordered her deported. Her case has made headlines over the clash between the rights of Canadian-born children and the government’s right to deport people from Canada. But some say it has also highlighted another serious problem. Why does it take so long for some cases to wind their way through the immigration department? Even the immigration officer who handled Baker’s file summed up its history this way: “This case is a catastrophe. It is also an indictment of our ‘system’ that the client came as a visitor in Aug.’81, was not ordered deported until Dec.’92 and in APRIL’94 IS STILL HERE!,” her wrote, with…

The Gazette, Montreal – Sunday April 18, 1999 MONTREAL/QUEBEC Cites psychiatric illness of daughter A Bangladeshi man has defied a deportation order on the ground that his daughter is hospitalized with a psychiatric illness in Montreal and would not be able to receive adequate treatment in his south Asian homeland. Muhd Hafizul Alam, 52, and his family were slated for deportation last Thursday after their bid for refugee status was rejected and various appeal mechanisms exhausted. By ignoring the deportation order, Alam, his wife and two children are liable to be arrested and expelled from Canada. On Friday, the Immigration Department told Alam’s lawyer that its medical-services branch in Ottawa would examine a physician’s letter attesting to his daughter’s condition. The letter says that Runa Alam, 16, is hospitalized at the Allan Memorial Institute for a schizophrenic disorder and “has to remain hospitalized for an undetermined period of time.” Max Berger, Alam’s…

The Toronto Star – Tuesday, April 6, 1999 BY TIM HARPER AND VALERIE LAWTON OTTAWA BUREAU Victims of war will arrive in Ontario by next weekend OTTAWA – Canadians are coming forward to offer their homes to Kosovar refugees even as military officials scramble to airlift about 5,000 to this country by the end of the week. The refugees, who are expected to land at CFB Trenton by the weekend, will be arriving in the country on ministerial permits, but will be allowed to claim refugee status. It will be the biggest influx of refugees to this country since 26,000 “boat people” arrived after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. Sources say Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard is directing her officials who have been dispatched to Macedonia to give preference to those who would meet the criteria for refugee status. Immigration lawyers say they fully expect all those arriving here will immediately…

The Toronto Star – Tuesday, January 27, 1998 BY PETER KRIVEL STAFF REPORTER STILL TOGETHER: Thanks to a Federal Court ruling, Thilliampalam Kanthasami, 58, will be allowed to stay in Canada with his son, Thushyanthan, 14, who had earlier been granted refugee status. A Sri Lankan man has been allowed to remain in Canada with his son after the Federal Court asked the immigration department to reassess his case. The decision means that 58-year-old Thilliampalam Kanthasami of Downsview will be allowed to stay here with his 14-year old son, Thushyanthan, who had earlier been granted refugee status. “I feel very good and I’m happy,” Kanthasami said last night. “I’ll be a good person and I can live with my son. And now I’ll try to get the rest of my family here.” Kanthasami, a former police officer, arrived in Canada in 1990 and made a refugee claim that was denied. After…