Conrad Black visa lands Jason Kenney in legal flap

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Jun 28, 2010
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Conrad Black visa lands Jason Kenney in legal flap


More than 80 lawyers have written an open letter to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney challenging his assertion that he was not involved with the decision to grant Conrad Black a permit to live in Canada after the former media mogul served jail time in the U.S.

In an open letter to Kenney, the immigration lawyers say it is "not credible" that Black would have been granted a temporary resident permit "without any input" from Kenney himself.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Gimli, Man., on Thursday for an announcement on cleanup funding for Lake Winnipeg, defended Kenney when questioned by reporters.

"Kenney took every step to ensure that this matter was handled independently by public servants," said Harper.

The prime minister added that it was "not in the government's interest to intervene in this matter, in any way, shape or form."

But the lawyers believe Kenney must have had some involvement in the controversial decision to grant the temporary permit to Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship and served jail time in the U.S. for obstruction of justice.

Echoing the prime minister's remarks, Kenney's office maintains "neither the minister of immigration nor his staff were involved in processing this file."

"In fact, Minister Kenney directed his department multiple times to specifically exclude him and his staff from any deliberations regarding this application," said Ana Curic, director of communications for the immigration minister in a statement to CBC News.

"This decision was made by independent public servants, based on Canadian law," she said.

Complaint dismissed by law society


Nonetheless, it's that very position that saw the immigration minister's office trying to censure fellow lawyer Guidy Mamann after he made those same comments to the press.

An aide to the minister went so far as to file a formal complaint, which was dismissed by the Law Society of Upper Canada in July.

In open defiance, the lawyers also challenge Kenney to take them before the law society for agreeing with Mamann.

"If you believe that our statement violates the Law Society of Upper Canada Rules please feel free to report us to the Law Society," the lawyers wrote.

Some of the same lawyers who have signed this open letter are also involved in a legal challenge trying to stop the Conservative government from deleting a massive backlog of 280,000 immigration applications.

In June, records obtained by CBC News Network's Power & Politics under the federal Access to Information Act suggested there was no political interference to fast-track or approve Black's application.

Conrad Black visa lands Jason Kenney in legal flap - Politics - CBC News
 

Goober

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Jan 23, 2009
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Conrad Black visa lands Jason Kenney in legal flap


More than 80 lawyers have written an open letter to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney challenging his assertion that he was not involved with the decision to grant Conrad Black a permit to live in Canada after the former media mogul served jail time in the U.S.

In an open letter to Kenney, the immigration lawyers say it is "not credible" that Black would have been granted a temporary resident permit "without any input" from Kenney himself.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Gimli, Man., on Thursday for an announcement on cleanup funding for Lake Winnipeg, defended Kenney when questioned by reporters.

"Kenney took every step to ensure that this matter was handled independently by public servants," said Harper.

The prime minister added that it was "not in the government's interest to intervene in this matter, in any way, shape or form."

But the lawyers believe Kenney must have had some involvement in the controversial decision to grant the temporary permit to Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship and served jail time in the U.S. for obstruction of justice.

Echoing the prime minister's remarks, Kenney's office maintains "neither the minister of immigration nor his staff were involved in processing this file."

"In fact, Minister Kenney directed his department multiple times to specifically exclude him and his staff from any deliberations regarding this application," said Ana Curic, director of communications for the immigration minister in a statement to CBC News.

"This decision was made by independent public servants, based on Canadian law," she said.

Complaint dismissed by law society


Nonetheless, it's that very position that saw the immigration minister's office trying to censure fellow lawyer Guidy Mamann after he made those same comments to the press.

An aide to the minister went so far as to file a formal complaint, which was dismissed by the Law Society of Upper Canada in July.

In open defiance, the lawyers also challenge Kenney to take them before the law society for agreeing with Mamann.

"If you believe that our statement violates the Law Society of Upper Canada Rules please feel free to report us to the Law Society," the lawyers wrote.

Some of the same lawyers who have signed this open letter are also involved in a legal challenge trying to stop the Conservative government from deleting a massive backlog of 280,000 immigration applications.

In June, records obtained by CBC News Network's Power & Politics under the federal Access to Information Act suggested there was no political interference to fast-track or approve Black's application.

Conrad Black visa lands Jason Kenney in legal flap - Politics - CBC News

And what legal flap- The lawyers clearly stated that Kenny interfered - No proof- Guess that lawyer does not know the difference between Proof and Supposition.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...-globe-enabled-campaign-against-conrad-black/
As I’ve written in the past, there is nothing particularly suspicious about Black’s entry into Canada earlier this year. That notorious criminal Lindsay Lohan also was admitted into Canada on a temporary-residency permit recently. Was there also a “legal uprising” over that? (I’m scanning the back issues of the Globe to see if they covered it. But oddly, I can’t find anything.)

It’s no surprise why the immigration bar is mad at Kenney. When the Liberals were in power, our immigration and refugee policies, shot through with Bleak House-style bureaucracy and endless appeals, were basically make-work projects for the folks in black robes. Any effort to trim this mess back was met with howls of lawyerly outrage, which Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin duly heeded in the name of ethno-politics. Jason Kenney has begun the long and difficult task of reforming all this. And the legal establishment isn’t happy about it.

If lawyers want to write open letters, let them do so to their collective hearts’ content. But don’t call it an “uprising.” When you abuse the truth, not to mention the English language, all you do is give Conrad Black a big fat target for his next column.
 
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damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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kelowna bc
The whole issue of this weasel getting to live here is something that burns me.
Conrad Black, was a Canadian, a man who turned in his Canadian citizenship
in order to indulge in his own self interest in becoming a British Lord, and he
didn't give a damn about the value of his citizenship here.
In the end he becomes a criminal and is imprisoned in the United States, and
we were rid of him. For some reason a man who denounced Canada for a
lofty position is shipped out of Britain for his actions, he spends time in prison
and then he now with a record, is allowed to cross the boarder into Canada.
We don't allow other criminals to enter the country. He is of course no longer
a Canadian he gave that up. Why should we allow those guilty of an offence
to come here, especially if they gave up being a Canadian in the first place.
Khoder is a criminal held in prison on a base in Cuba and we have resisted
having him return, He is a Canadian Black is not. We don't have much choice
in the Khoder case but we owe nothing to Black period.
 

Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
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The whole issue of this weasel getting to live here is something that burns me.
Conrad Black, was a Canadian, a man who turned in his Canadian citizenship
in order to indulge in his own self interest in becoming a British Lord, and he
didn't give a damn about the value of his citizenship here.
In the end he becomes a criminal and is imprisoned in the United States, and
we were rid of him. For some reason a man who denounced Canada for a
lofty position is shipped out of Britain for his actions, he spends time in prison
and then he now with a record, is allowed to cross the boarder into Canada.
We don't allow other criminals to enter the country. He is of course no longer
a Canadian he gave that up. Why should we allow those guilty of an offence
to come here, especially if they gave up being a Canadian in the first place.
Khoder is a criminal held in prison on a base in Cuba and we have resisted
having him return, He is a Canadian Black is not. We don't have much choice
in the Khoder case but we owe nothing to Black period.

He met the legal requirements.
 

wizard

Time Out
Nov 18, 2011
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... canadian lawyers are a miserable bunch of ungrateful morons ...

... canadian governments coast to coast, both provinically and federally, underwrite a multi-tiered court system at no cost to the bar which gives these lawless crooks a place to criminally extort their victims with total impunity. this court system includes criminal courts, appeal courts, civil courts, human rights tribunals and even animal courts too ...

... canadian lawyers should be on their knees thanking jason kenney and the federal government for the taxpayer funded support it gives to their industry ...
 
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Goober

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 23, 2009
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... canadian lawyers are a miserable bunch of ungrateful morons ...

... canadian governments coast to coast, both provinically and federally, underwrite a multi-tiered court system at no cost to the bar which gives these lawless crooks a place to criminally extort their victims with totally impunity. this court system includes criminal courts, appeal courts, civil courts, human rights tribunals and even animal courts too ...

... canadian lawyers should be on their knees thanking jason kenney and the federal government for the tax-payer funded support it gives to their industry ...

Hot day causes crap to surface.
 

CDNBear

Custom Troll
Sep 24, 2006
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Ontario
... canadian lawyers are a miserable bunch of ungrateful morons ...

... canadian governments coast to coast, both provinically and federally, underwrite a multi-tiered court system at no cost to the bar which gives these lawless crooks a place to criminally extort their victims with totally impunity. this court system includes criminal courts, appeal courts, civil courts, human rights tribunals and even animal courts too ...

... canadian lawyers should be on their knees thanking jason kenney and the federal government for the tax-payer funded support it gives to their industry ...
As always, you're a ray of misinformed sunshine.