Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v. Yihdego
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Law Firm / Organization
Department of Justice Canada
Abel Nahusenay Yihdego
Law Firm / Organization
Independent
Lawyer(s)

Raoul Boulakia

- Parties: The appellant was the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The respondent was Abel Nahusenay Yihdego.

- Subject Matter: The Federal Court certified the question of whether a person was inadmissible to Canada under s. 34(1)(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for being a member of an organization with respect to which there were reasonable grounds to believe it has engaged in, engages in, or will engage in espionage acts “contrary to Canada's interests” under s. 34(1)(a) of the Act if these espionage activities happened outside Canada and targeted foreign nationals in a manner contrary to the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the democratic character of Canada, including the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by s. 2(b) of the Charter.

- Ruling: The appeal court ruled in the respondent’s favour, dismissed the appeal, and answered the question certified by the Federal Court in the negative. The appeal court found no error in the Federal Court’s finding that the Immigration Division’s decision was unreasonable and in concluding that the phrase “contrary to Canada’s interests” required a nexus to Canada’s national security or security interests.

- Date: The hearing was set on Mar. 19, 2024. The court released its decision on Apr. 12, 2024.

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court of Appeal.

- Amount: No financial award was specified.

Federal Court of Appeal
A-222-20
Constitutional law
$ 0
Respondent
24 September 2020