The appellant claimed Convention refugee status but was granted permanent residence.
He was later convicted of conspiracy to traffic in a narcotic and sentenced to eight years in prison.
He renewed his refugee claim, but the Immigration and Refugee Board excluded him under Article 1F(c) of the Convention, finding him guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the standard of review for the Board's decision on this question of law is correctness.
The Court concluded that drug trafficking, while a serious crime, does not constitute a serious, sustained, and systemic violation of fundamental human rights amounting to persecution, and therefore does not fall within the Article 1F(c) exclusion.
The appeal was allowed.
