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Félicitations: demande d’asile

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Notre mission est de sauver des vies. Nous sommes conscients des sacrifices considérables que font les gens pour venir au Canada. Ces cas nécessitent beaucoup de temps et de ressources pour obtenir un résultat positif.

Dans ce cas, notre cliente est originaire du Kenya. Elle a dû fuir une situation complexe impliquant des membres de sa famille. Elle a fui dans différents pays avant de prendre la décision de venir au Canada. Nous avons réuni des preuves solides et des éléments de preuve objectifs pour montrer à la SPR que les circonstances particulières de notre cliente sont décrites par l’article 96 de la LIPR.

Nous avons publié de nombreux guides et articles pour aider nos clients. Une demande d’asile comporte de nombreuses étapes. Il s’agit d’un processus juridique difficile. Les preuves peuvent faire la différence entre une décision positive et une lettre de refus du tribunal.

Ce n’était pas une situation facile et notre client était bien préparé. Comme vous pouvez le constater, le juge dans cette affaire était Mme Arango et elle n’approuve que 55 % de ses dossiers, ce qui est inférieur au taux prévu par rapport aux autres décideurs. Nous avons obtenu cette décision positive après de nombreuses heures de travail acharné. Ces dossiers sont complexes et nous traitons de nombreuses questions juridiques différentes.

Nous avons pu l’aider dans sa demande d’asile et nous sommes ravis de gagner.

Maintenant que sa demande a été acceptée, elle peut demander le statut de résident permanent.

Nous savons également que tous les demandeurs d’asile ne peuvent pas payer nos services. Nous acceptons le fait que nous ne pouvons pas aider tous ceux qui se présentent à notre bureau. Nous espérons que chaque demandeur bénéficie d’une bonne représentation afin qu’il ait les meilleures chances de vivre au Canada.

Success: Undeclared Child

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We love reuniting family members. We know the Canadian immigration system can be extremely complex. We can share a case that we have been working on for years. This is a family who came to Canada without a child. The child was forced to stay behind due to complex issues within the family. We had to deal with cultural and religious practices that causes extreme hardship for this family.

After many years, we were able to help this child come to Canada. Alastair actually met the child at Winnipeg’s Richardson Airport after his long flight.

We know we are in the business of saving lives. We know clients make mistakes. Our job is to help clients fix past mistakes, if that is possible, so they can achieve their immigration dreams.

Amir – welcome to Manitoba!

In this case, this family has strong support and it has been a pleasure working with them over many years. They know that if they have any additional immigration issues, the team at CIL is here to help.

Moderator: CARL Fall 2024 National Conference

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As part of our volunteer work, Mr Clarke will be acting as Moderator for a panel on Nov 1st for the CARL Fall 2024 National Conference. We would encourage everyone interested to register for the program – either in person or by video. Details of the conference have been published online:

The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) welcomes you to join us for our Fall 2024 National Conference, taking place on Friday, November 1, 2024. Conference topics will include:

  • Stay of Removals and Administrative Stays
  • Canada- Québec Accord: The barriers to immigration and settlement in Québec – and implications for the rest of Canada
  • Danger Opinions
  • Conduct at RPD Hearings

The conference is national in scope, with in-person locations in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax, as well as a Zoom option for remote attendees:

Vancouver: Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3 (1315 Scotiabank Lecture Room)

Edmonton: Legal Aid Alberta 10123 – 99 St NW Edmonton, AB T5J 3H1 (Meet in lobby)

Toronto: Munk School of Global Affairs, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON M5S 3K7 (The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility 15)

Ottawa: Carleton University, Richcraft Hall 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 (Room 2228 in Richcraft Hall)

Montréal: UQAM, 201 Av. du Président-Kennedy, Montréal, QC H2X 3Y7 (Salle DS-4375)

Halifax: McInnes Cooper Tower, Purdy’s Wharf, 13th Floor, 1969 Upper Water St., Halifax, NS B3J 3R7 (Multipurpose Room)

Mr Clarke will be Moderating the panel on the Canada- Québec Accord. Expert lawyers from Quebec will be giving a presentation on the situation and they will answer questions from participants.

Success: RPD (Nicaragua)

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“We are in the business of saving lives.” Alastair Clarke regularly tells this to the team at CIL and it’s true! Each case that comes to CIL is important. It is our privilege to help those who put their trust in our services and we take this decision very seriously.

Our client from Nicaragua came to Canada after many visits to the USA. He had many difficult issues that were considered as part of his refugee claim. Why didn’t he make a claim in the USA during those trips? What are the reasons he cannot return to Nicaragua now when he returned many times before? What are the circumstances in his country that put him at risk?

This was not an easy refugee claim. The RPD member reviewed all the potential issues for this claim and CIL prepared legal submissions, with regard to the objective evidence, on many legal points.

In the end, the RPD Member accepted our client’s claim and he can now apply for PR status. CONGRATULATIONS!

I want to thank Michael who supports many clients through the procedures at the RPD. As stated by Michael:

CONGRATULATIONS on the positive outcome of your refugee claim!!!

Thank you for cooperating with us every step of the way as we worked relentlessly to make sure your RPD hearing was a success.

Please see attached are the Notice of Decision as well as the Transcript of the Reasons and Decision of your refugee claim.

Let us know in the near future if you would like to retain our services to assist with the Permanent Residence Application.

In this situation, I also want to give thanks to Camilo who was able to provide support for our client in Spanish.

Reserved Decision – Positive

Many refugee claimants believe that a “reserved” decision means that their claim will be refused. Not true. We prefer bench positive decisions (when the RPD Member accepts the claim at the end of the hearing and gives an oral decision on the same day) but these are not always possible.

In this case, our client’s case was complex. The RPD Member could not make an oral decision as she needed time to consider the evidence and our legal arguments. She took that time and, in the end, accepted the claim.

Free Presentation: MANSO

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Alastair Clarke has been invited to speak at the MANSO – World Refugee Day 2024 event on 20 JUNE 2024. This is a free event, open to the public. Alastair will be speaking on current issues that relate to making a refugee claim inside Canada and other immigration issues. As described by MANSO:

In support of World Refugee Day, the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations (MANSO), and our member organizations and partners, will come together to mark World Refugee Day in Manitoba on Thursday, June 20, 2024.

MANSO and its member organizations bring together experts and stakeholders to discuss various aspects of refugee claimants’ issues. Join us for an impactful and inspiring event on World Refugee Day as we highlight the resilience, strength, and talents of refugees around the world. This event will primarily centre on forcefully displaced individuals, highlighting the theme of Understanding and Supporting Refugee Claimants

The event will highlight opportunities to learn more about refugees including

  • Legal expert: providing insights to the current refugee claims, including the asylum process, rights of refugees, and challenges faced in navigating the system.
  • Real life stories told by refugees: providing the impacts of displacement on individuals and communities
  • Representative from newcomer service providers: sharing on-the-ground experiences of assisting refugee claimants, including challenges faced during settlement and integration processes, and the importance of community support.
  • Refugee advocate: providing a firsthand account of the refugee experience, including reasons for seeking asylum, challenges encountered during the journey, and the process of rebuilding life in a new country.
  • Governmental agency/IRCC: providing their perspective as the responsible for processing refugee claims, addressing policies, procedures, and initiatives aimed at supporting refugee integration and protection

 

We invite you to join us in celebrating the resilience and strength of refugees on World Refugee Day. Whether you’re a refugee yourself, a supporter of refugee rights, or simply interested in learning more, your presence and participation will make a difference. Together, let’s honor the journeys and contributions of refugees and work towards a more inclusive and compassionate world.

If you would like to participate, please register with MANSO. 

Spring MPNP update

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Currently, there is a high level of frustration and anxiety among workers and students in Manitoba who are hoping to get Permanent Resident status through the MPNP program. They may have come to Canada with the expectation that their plan would be easy. They may have read old promises by the Government of Canada. They made decisions based on historical data.

Over the past 6 months, the immigration landscape in Canada has dramatically changed. In turn, the MPNP program and the potential future of folks in Manitoba may also change. The promises and expectations from years past do not, unfortunately, support applications in 2024 and the government is not under an obligation to provide status for applicants. CIL provides services for many clients to navigate the system, as it changes, to provide the best guidance for our clients.MPNP

Yesterday, Alastair Clarke met with MPNP managers and Senior Officers to get an update on the MPNP program. Here are key points:

  • As reported, MPNP has been granted 9,500 NOMINATION CERTIFICATES by IRCC for 2024;
  • There are between 20,000 to 27,000 EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOI) in the MPNP pool;
  • There are more than 47,000 individuals with temporary status in Manitoba;
  • MPNP has hired more Officers to process MPNP applications and, the latest budget from the Manitoba government provides funding for more Officers in future;
  • MPNP will prioritize applicants who have been selected (at LAA stage) with expiring Work Permits (eg. PGWP or CUAET); however, they cannot guarantee that all applicants will be able to apply for the T13 Work Permit while they are in status;
  • Applicants must disclose the expiry date of their Work Permit for the MPNP Officer to give the applicant priority consideration;
  • If Applicants hire agents and/or consultants who make mistakes, the applicants are liable;
  • MPNP Officers will be flexible with Ukrainian applicants who cannot obtain documents, despite “best efforts”;
  • The Skilled Worker Webform is the best way to request a Work Permit Support Letter; and,
  • Current IRCC Regulations regarding T13 Work Permits do not allow MPNP to provide Work Permit Support Letters on a provisional basis.

During the meeting, many other topics were discussed. The MPNP program Managers and Officers have been working hard and they have been putting in significant overtime hours to process applications. They are acutely aware of the high level of anxiety. Workers at MPNP also recognize that applicants may need to leave Canada while their applications are in process and then return to Canada, if the application is approved.

ALTERNATIVES TO MPNP

We have also spoken with many workers who are looking at other options. In particular, we have many people who are considering a refugee claim. This is not an easy process and it is only recommended for individuals who are described by section 96 or section 97 of IRPA. 

Alastair Clarke and other lawyers across Canada have written a guide on filing a refugee claim in Canada, including all the steps involved and potential issues. Please read the guide and get professional help before you start your refugee claim. If your claim is accepted, then you can apply for PR status as our client did in this case. 

The other common option, as an alternative to MPNP and/or Express Entry, is the HUMANITARIAN and COMPASSIONATE (H&C) application, filed per section 25 of IRPA. Within the context of immigration law, this is an application of last resort and it is only recommended if the applicant has no other options. Here is an example of an H&C that we filed, successfully, on behalf of a family.

RISK FACTORS

As in previous years, the MPNP program wants to support individuals with strong connections to Manitoba. Risk factors, including studying or working in another province, will result in lower points. The program may provide Procedural Fairness Letters (PFLs) to individuals who get PR status based on the MPNP program and then move to another province. The MPNP program is focused on high “retention” numbers and they value each Nomination Certificate. Once a Nomination has been issued to an applicant, it cannot be recovered.

If you get a PFL and you need help, please contact our office. We have helped many applicants through this process. 

MPNP has disclosed that the highest retention category is “SWO – with family connections to Manitoba”. The category with the lowest retention is “SWM – with risk factors”. In future, MPNP draws may focus on applicants with the highest chance of strong retention.

MPNP continues to have concerns of abuse. Applicants who apply to the program with the intention of moving to another province after getting PR status are not encouraged to apply.

Success: Tribunal Approval

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We are in the business of saving lives. We know the extreme sacrifices that people make to come to Canada. These cases take significant time and resources to get a positive result.

In this case, we accepted this refugee claim on a Legal Aid Certificate from Legal Aid Manitoba in early 2023. If you have read the news, you may know that we stopped taking legal aid in late 2023 as the Government of Manitoba made the decision to increase funding to criminal lawyers by 70% and to family lawyers by 50%. The increase for immigration services? ZERO. This was a difficult decision and we applaud the new NDP government’s recent decision to correct this terrible mistake and to recognize the valuable work done by immigration lawyers.

We do our best to support all the people who come to our office. We have been accepting legal aid since 2015 and we hope the government continues to support our work.

In this case, our client is from Kenya. She had a complex situation involving family members and she had to escape. She fled to different countries before making the decision to come to Canada. We put together strong packages of proof and objective evidence to show the RPD that our client’s particular circumstances are described by section 96 of IRPA.

We were able to help her with her refugee claim and we love winning.

Now that her claim has been accepted, she can apply for PR status.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Update: Legal Aid is FIXED; CIL will start taking LAC in 2024

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As reported by CBC News, CIL made the difficult decision in DEC 2023 to stop accepting legal aid certificates. This decision was not made lightly. Alastair Clarke has had many conversations with Peter Kingley (K.C.), Executive Director of Legal Aid Manitoba over the past few years. We cannot disclose all the details of these conversations, of course. The decision in 2022 to increase funding for criminal and family matters, while not increasing funding for immigration was extremely concerning. We believe Manitobans want to support immigration. Manitoba has a strong history of helping people come to this province.

Alastair Clarke first started working with refugees in 2005, as a law student at Queen’s University. He worked at the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples legal aid clinic and he guided many refugee claimants through the process. For almost 20 years, he has continued the mission to help the most vulnerable people in the world. Feel free to watch his TEDx talk.

Based on all the work done by CBC News, in particular the work done by Arturo Chang and his attention to this important issue. We also want to thank other advocates in Manitoba that pushed Legal Aid Manitoba to make the right decision to (finally) increase funding for immigration. Victory! This is very good news and this funding will help many people

Starting 1 APRIL 2024, CIL will start accepting legal aid certificates. We strongly believe that lawyers need to use their skills and experience to help the most vulnerable.

To be clear, CIL has continued to help refugees even after we stopped accepting legal aid. Our refugee clients have been paying for those services on private retainers. We will also continue to accept clients on private retainers, depending on the circumstances. Our refugee claimants in Quebec, for example, do not qualify for Legal Aid Manitoba so they will continue to sign contracts for services.

Success: Mennonite Family

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Manitoba has a strong vibrant Mennonite community. The history of Mennonites in Canada is complex and there have been points where the community has divided. CIL has represented many Mennonites over the years, including complex Citizenship applications, H&C applications and refugee claims. Today, I will share a success story from a family who fled Paraguay and sought protection in Canada, based on the Geneva Convention or 1951. Many years ago, this family’s ancestors lived in Manitoba and left Canada to find a better life in Paraguay. They lived in a Mennonite colony (“Old Colony”) in Paraguay for many years. Based on a series of events, involved various members of the Old Colony community, gangs in Paraguay and the drug trafficking cartels, our clients had no other option than to come to Canada to claim refugee status.

Here are CIL, we are not historians or experts in the historical context. For these issues, we rely on experts, including Royden Loewen (“Roy”), a retired Canadian History Professor and Chair in Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg. He also happens to be a contact of Alastair Clarke. Roy has provided invaluable information and context to these cases so the IRB Member or IRCC Officer can understand the important background information.

CIL represented this Mennonite family from Paraguay through the refugee claim process and assisted them with witness testimony and oral evidence at the RPD. Given the volume of evidence, the RPD required multiple hearings to ensure all the witnesses and claimants were able to fully share their story.

The team at CIL worked with this Mennonite family from Paraguay for more than 1 year to make sure they were prepared. We provided more than 300 pages of documents and evidence to support their claim. In the end, the RPD accepted that they are Convention refugees per A96 of IRPA and they are in need of protection. They are now safe in Canada and they are on track to becoming Permanent Residents.

Congratulations to this Mennonite family!

Refugee Claimants Get One (1) Chance

Most refugee claimants who go through the Canadian refugee determination process only get 1 chance at the RPD. If they are refused, they can appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) and, in a few cases, the RAD may send the claim back to the RPD for redetermination. This is very rare. 

When a failed refugee claimant comes to CIL and shares a horror story, it can be extremely frustrating to hear. In some cases, individuals will describe how their previous representative did not prepare them. They talk about how their previous representative did not explain how to give good testimony to the RPD. They describe how their previous representative did not listen. They talk about how their previous representative did not spend enough time to review their claim. It is extremely difficult to hear these stories, of course, and CIL has limited powers to fix the problem at this point.

We have helped failed refugee claimants through the RAD process and we have had many RPD decision overturned; however, these cases are difficult and they require a lot of work.

Do Things Properly

If you read this space, you will know that we made the decision to stop accepting Legal Aid Manitoba certificates. As we published at that time, and as reported by CBC News, Legal Aid Manitoba only paid lawyers for 13.1 hours of work.

For this claim, the team at CIL spent more than 30 hours on this file. We needed more than 30 hours to perform the necessary legal research, review all the issues, respond to the Minister’s concerns, prepare the claimants and witnesses, etc, etc, etc.

In my opinion, if this family had found a lawyer through Legal Aid, there is high chance their claim would have been refused and they would be subject to a Removal Order. We can never know, of course, what might have happened.

Our philosophy: do things properly. If a claim takes 30 hours to ensure it is done properly, then take the 30 hours to do it.

MB Legal Aid

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CIL WILL NOT ACCEPT MORE LEGAL AID – UNTIL THINGS CHANGE

We regret to announce that CIL has made the difficult decision to not accept any more legal aid certificates for the foreseeable future. We do not take this action lightly. We know that many clients will be disappointed. Clients regularly come to us as they have heard we are the best. They have been told to come seek our help. Communities rely on our services. Unfortunately, Legal Aid Manitoba (LAM) has failed to provide sufficient compensation for this work, despite increasing fees for other areas of law. This is simply not fair so we have been compelled to make this difficult decision.

WHY ARE WE SUSPENDING LEGAL AID?

In Oct 2022, the Government of Manitoba increased LAM tariffs for Criminal Law matters. They increased tariffs for Family Law matters. Increase for Immigration? No. Increase for Refugees? ZERO. Clearly, LAM considered the tariffs and decided they were too low. They decided to increase the moneys paid for many legal matters and made the decision not to increase tariffs for immigration and refugee matters. Is this fair?

Mr Clarke has spoken to the management at LAM and they have repeatedly promised to make things fair. We have been patient for more than 1 year. They have failed to act on their promises. Inflation has been increasing our costs of doing business. Workers are getting 9.5% wage increases. 

Based on the MB Legal Aid website, the maximum fees for a refugee hearing (from start to finish) is CAD $1,315. That is the maximum. It is extremely low. If a lawyer has a complex case, they can request a “discretionary increase”. That request goes to a committee and they review the work. How many requests for a “discretionary increase” (DI) are approved? At CIL, we have submitted many DI requests over the years and they have ALL been denied by LAM. This means that CIL is paid at a low rate for some work, and not paid at all for any additional work that may be required.

The only conclusion is that the current model is not sustainable. If we continue to accept LAM clients at unfair rates, we are supporting and condoning an unfair system.

BACKGROUND

We love helping our clients. Families. Workers. Students. Business Owners. Corporations. Refugees. We serve all our clients equally, regardless of their background. Access to justice is one of our motivating principles. We know that legal fees can be expensive so we offer payment plans. We also know that, in some cases, even our payment plans are outside the means of certain clients. Every year, we spend many hours doing pro bono work for clients and we regularly offer additional services at no additional charges. Unlike the vast majority of law firms, we publish our fees online for anyone, in any country, to review so they can make an informed decision. We have published detailed explanations regarding our one-time Administrative Fee and we have been regularly audited by the Law Society. We love the fact that we have helped so many clients win at the RPD, win at the IAD, win at Federal Court, and we have helped so many clients come to Canada as students or workers or as separated family members.

CIL is a business. We have to keep the lights on. We have to pay our bills. We have to pay salaries and bonuses to Team Members. We do not receive any grants or funding from either the provincial government or the federal government. We rely on fees paid for our work – 100%.

In Manitoba, there are 2 potential sources of fees: 1. Clients; or 2. Legal Aid Manitoba. Most law firms in Manitoba do not accept legal aid certificates. When Alastair Clarke founded CIL many years ago, a senior lawyer said:

“My best advice is to not accept legal aid. If you do, you will not be able to feed your family.”

Mr Clarke did not take that advice. CIL has accepted legal aid certificates every year and we are actively involved with the legal aid community. Mr Clarke has also been volunteering for many years at the Legal Help Centre to provide free legal advice on immigration matters.

After many years of practice, it is clear that refugees are good for Manitoba. They pay taxes. They perform valuable work during a labour shortage. Based on research from the University of Manitoba, they are a net positive for our economy, notwithstanding the fact that helping refugees is the right thing to do.

CARL WILL NOT HELP

In 2022, Mr Clarke had a meeting with lawyers in Ontario and other provinces to discuss legal aid. The meeting was organized by the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL). We talked about calling on the Federal Government to establish a nationwide plan and, in the end, we could not agree on a unified message. Why? One of the reasons is that Legal Aid Ontario pays lawyers much more than other provinces. In addition, unlike Manitoba, the Ontario government has recognized the importance of refugee protection so their fees increased in 2023 and they will increase again in 2024 and again in 2025. 

The refugee lawyers in Ontario do not want to risk those tariffs coming down to match the tariffs paid by Legal Aid Manitoba. This makes sense. I certainly would not want to negatively impact my colleagues in Ontario based on the lack of fairness in Manitoba.

WHAT ARE FAIR RATES?

This is a tough question. Mr Clarke regularly lets his staff know that we are in the business of saving lives. There is no price tag on that service. The average doctor in Manitoba is paid $310k for their work. Is that a fair comparison? No, not really. We want to be fair. We want to be just. We currently charge a minimum of $3,500 to assist with a refugee claim from start to finish. These procedures generally take 12 to 18 months and we work with the claimant, supporters, witnesses and members of the community to prepare the case. We need to spend enough time on each and every file to make sure our clients have the best chance at success.

Clearly, the LAM tariff of CAD $1,315 is not fair.

A Canadian law firm in Ontario charges CAD $11,250.00 for a refugee claim and hearing (minimum). I am not including a link to that law firm as I do not want to give them any web traffic. In my view, charging CAD $11,250.00 for a refugee claim is outrageous and not fair to the claimant.

 

Most people would agree the above rates are too high. Charging CAD $11,250.00 is not defensable, although I did not contact that law firm to see what justification, if any, they have for such high fees.

Our fees start at CAD $3,500 and most of our refugee claimants on private retainers pay that amount. We have not raised our fees for refugee claims since 2015. In 2020, we did a review of our fees and we noticed that law firms in Canada were raising their fees. We made the decision not to raise ours because of clients were suffering. 

 

Canadian Lawyer Magazine published the 2020 Legal Fees Survey online. Legal fees in 2021 went up. Here are the numbers for 2021. Average fees for a refugee claim in Ontario in 2021 was $5,000, for example. Based on our research, they did not publish fees for 2022 or 2023.

Based on the above, we know that we could charge more than $3,500 per claim. I know that our services are among the best in Canada. Since David Matas decided to limit his practice, Alastair Clarke is arguably the most experienced refugee lawyer in Manitoba. He was contracted by Kinbrace in BC as the Canadian expert in refugee law to oversee and draft the guide from refugee claimants across Canada. In 2023, he accepted a position as an IRB Representative for the Canadian Bar Association (CBA). Currently, he has more than 50 hearings scheduled at the RPD and he is booked until Spring 2024. Do we want to raise our fees? No.

$1,315? $3,500? $5,000? $5,750? $11,250? What is fair?

Based on 15 years of practice, I believe $3,500 CAD is fair for a refugee lawyer to charge to represent a refugee claimant at the RPD. To be frank, this should be the minimum for this type of work. I can understand how refugee lawyers in Ontario charge $5,000 and how the average fees across Western Canada is $5,750.

Alastair Clarke recently spoke with a junior immigration lawyer who is starting out. She asked about different areas of practice and LAM. Mr Clarke described the work involved and let her know that LAM pays $1,315 for this work. Her reply:

That’s it? Are you joking? How could I feed my kids? No, that can’t be right.

She is correct. It is not right. It is not fair.

THE LAST STRAW

As you have read from the above, this has been an issue that has been burning for a long time. What prompted this decision? I can share this story. In NOV 2023, we accepted a LAM to accept a family from Turkey. They have truly suffered, although this is not straightforward situation as they are relying on “generalized risk”, which is difficult in the context of a A96/ A97 determination. Regardless, we accepted the LAM file. Then we learned that the sister of the principal claimant is a physician in Manitoba. She is getting paid CAD +$300,000.00 by the Government of Manitoba to provide health care to residents in Manitoba. Could she support her brother and his family? Yes. Is she? No. She helped them apply to LAM.  It could be said that she expects to get paid CAD +$300,000.00 by the Government of Manitoba to save lives but she does not want to pay anything for us to save her brother’s life. That was the last straw.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We are calling on the Government of Manitoba to match the tariffs paid by the Government of Ontario for refugee services. That is all. A refugee lawyer in Kenora, ON should be paid the same as a refugee lawyer in Winnipeg. If that happens, we will accept more work from LAM

WHAT HAPPENS IF LAM FAILS TO ACT?

We will continue to represent refugee claimants on private contracts. Our fees are published online. Based on the above, I hope you agree that our fees are fair. Our clients are on payment plans. We do our best to be as flexible as possible. If you need help, we would love to work with you.