Court ruling opens door for Canadian immigration delays — and minister’s power — to be challenged

Hard to argue against“transparent and intelligible justification” in any area of government, unfortunately “more honored in the breach than the observance”:

…In a judgment released last week, Federal Court Justice Michael Battista said the minister, despite the legal authority to set priorities, still has the duty to provide “transparent and intelligible justification” for application processing delays.

“What Justice Battista is saying is that implementing ministerial instructions in itself doesn’t make them reasonable and doesn’t justify a delay,” said Ottawa-based immigration lawyer Jacqueline Bonisteel, who is not involved in the case.

“It’s not enough for you to have suddenly pivoted and said, ‘Now this is the processing time.’ They still need to provide a reasonable, intelligible justification for the delay … (this ruling) allows us some fuel to push back on the use of these instructions in all different areas.”…

Source: Court ruling opens door for Canadian immigration delays — and minister’s power — to be challenged