Courtenay Landsiedel

The self-represented plaintiff, a federal inmate, filed a 44-page Statement of Claim seeking $50,000 in general damages against the Crown, alleging wrongful acts by the Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada, including improper access to computer information in 1999 and procedural unfairness at parole hearings.

The defendant moved to strike the claim under Rule 221(1)(a) for disclosing no reasonable cause of action.

The plaintiff did not respond to the motion.

The Federal Court granted the motion, finding the claim disjointed, lacking material facts to support causes of action in negligence or misfeasance in public office, and barred by the applicable limitation period.

The Statement of Claim was struck in its entirety without leave to amend.

The applicants, citizens of India, sought judicial review of a Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision that set aside a Refugee Protection Division (RPD) finding they were Convention refugees.

The RAD admitted new evidence from the Minister that undermined the principal applicant's credibility and substituted its own decision rejecting the claim.

The Federal Court held that the RAD unreasonably failed to address whether it was required to hold an oral hearing under subsection 110(6) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, despite the Minister's request for one and the significant credibility issues raised by the new evidence.

The application for judicial review was allowed and the matter remitted for redetermination.