Date: 20031204
Docket: IMM-6271-02
Citation: 2003 FC 1410
Between:
Alice Baygwaka MATANGA
Applicant
-and-
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
PINARD J.:
[1] This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the IRB) dated November 18, 2002, that the applicant is not a Convention refugee or a "person in need of protection" within the meaning of sections 96 and 97, respectively, of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27 (the Act).
[2] The applicant, Alice Baygwaka Matanga (the applicant), is 72 years old and she is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The applicant alleges that she has a well-founded fear of persecution because of her perceived political opinions and her membership in a particular social group, the family. She also alleges that she is a person in need of protection should she return to the DRC.
[3] The IRB found that the applicant was not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection because her claim was not credible. The IRB based its finding primarily on the absence of acceptable proof of the applicant's identity and on the improbability of her fear of persecution.
[4] The applicant submits that the panel erred in refusing to give probative value to the church card offered as identification. It is essential that claimants be able to produce acceptable identification documents in order to establish their identity and their route to Canada (Elazi v. Canada (M.C.I.), [2000] F.C.J. No. 212 (F.C.T.D.) (QL)). Pursuant to section 106 of the Act, the panel can consider the lack of acceptable proof of identity in assessing the applicant's credibility and it does not appear to me that the panel made a patently unreasonable error in adhering to the directives of the Act. In some cases, the panel may excuse the loss or lack of acceptable identity documentation if the claimant provides a serious explanation. In this case, the applicant did not offer any such explanation to account for the loss of her false French passport and the lack of official identity documents.
[5] According to the applicant, the panel should have given more consideration to the assessment of her subjective and objective fear of persecution. In this case, the applicant's credibility had already been called into question because of the lack of acceptable proof of her identity and because of certain implausibilities in her story.
[6] It is well established, in matters involving credibility and the appreciation of the facts, that this Court cannot substitute itself for the administrative tribunal when, as in this case, the party making the application fails to prove that the impugned decision is based on an erroneous finding of fact that the panel made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it (paragraph 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Courts Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7). The panel's perception that the party making the application is not credible could very well substantiate the finding that there is no credible element that justifies the refugee claim (see Sheikh v. Canada (M.E.I.), [1990] 3 F.C. 238, at page 244 (C.A.)).
[7] Since I am not persuaded, after reviewing the record, that the IRB, a specialized tribunal, could not reasonably find as it did (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1993), 160 N.R. 315 (F.C.A.)), the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"Yvon Pinard"
JUDGE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
December 4, 2003
Certified true translation
Kelley A. Harvey, BA, BCL, LLB
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-6271-02
STYLE OF CAUSE: Alice Baygwaka MATANGA v. THE MINISTER
OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: November 13, 2003
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: The Honourable Mr. Justice Pinard
DATED: December 4, 2003
APPEARANCES:
Dany Brouillette FOR THE APPLICANT
Andrea Shahin FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Dany Brouillette FOR THE APPLICANT
Montréal, Québec
Morris Rosenberg FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario