Bougai v. Canada ( Minister of Citizenship and Immigration )
IMM-4966-94
Gibson J.
15/6/95
8 pp.
Application for judicial review of Convention Refugee Determination Division (CRDD) decision applicant not Convention refugee -- Applicant, citizen of Israel, having emigrated there from former Soviet Union, making Convention refugee claim based on fear of persecution due to mixed Christian/Jewish marriage -- CRDD concluding incidents not constituting persecution but rather harassment and discrimination -- Affidavit by legal director of society dealing with immigration and problems facing non-Jews from former Soviet Union stating discrimination against non-Jewish persons in Israel systemic -- CRDD dismissing affidavit as running counter to bulk of evidence -- Evidence before CRDD and corroborating affidavit evidence raising reasonable doubt as to accuracy of CRDD's ruling -- Absence of reference to property rights in Charter not relevant to consideration whether damage to private property and discriminatory housing practices could ever be considered persecutory -- No judicial authority to support CRDD's implication "extreme level" of economic proscription required for positive finding of persecution -- Onus of "clear and convincing proof" regarding state's inability to protect its citizens (Canada (Attorney General) v. Ward, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 689) not requiring applicant to establish all, or even a majority, of police officers in Israel xenophobic -- Reasons indicating CRDD not having regard to totality of material in weighing evidence -- CRDD's reasons not adequately supporting conclusion -- Application allowed -- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, being Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, Schedule B, Canada Act 1982, 1982, c. 11 (U.K.) [R.S.C., 1985, Appendix II, No. 44].