Suit alleges ‘illegal’ conduct by CBSA officials
Border agents accused of withholding evidence that may have swayed judge in deportation case
In deciding whether the deportation of a methadone-addicted Jamaican citizen should be allowed to go ahead, Federal Court judge Michael D. Manson weighed the evidence in front of him.
The man, Twain Anthony Reeves, was being given methadone by Canadian doctors to manage his pain following a workplace injury, and the prescription opioid is illegal in Jamaica. Despite this, Manson concluded, there was “no clear evidence” the man would be unable to find other effective treatment in his home country, so he denied Reeves’ request to delay his deportation.
It appears there was evidence, but it was never shared with the judge.
Two weeks before Manson’s ruling, the Jamaican Ministry of Health had sent a letter to the Canada Border Services Agency clearly stating the treatment Reeves required was “not available.” The letter, signed by Jamaica’s chief medical officer, suggested the man “remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds where appropriate treatment can be provided.”
The letter was never disclosed to the court or the man’s lawyer. Now, Reeves is suing the federal government, accusing CBSA officials of deliberately withholding the evidence and misleading the court.
“CBSA officers engaged in a pattern of illegal, abusive, arbitrary, bad faith and negligent conduct,” Reeves alleges in his lawsuit, which seeks $6 million in damages and accuses the federal government of violating several of his Charter rights.
Had the letter been disclosed to the Federal Court, the lawsuit alleges, Reeves would not have been deported until after he had been weaned off methadone, and he would not “have suffered the debilitating effects of methadone withdrawal without treatment or care.”
The CBSA has filed in court a notice of intent to defend against the lawsuit. A spokesperson declined to respond to specific allegations in the lawsuit, saying the agency does not comment on “matters before the courts.”
The damning allegations of unethical behaviour by CBSA officers comes amid growing calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to make good on its promise to create a system of oversight for the federal agency, which has the power to arrest, detain and deport non-citizens.
The CBSA is the only law enforcement agency in the country without independent oversight, and the lawsuit argues that the lack of oversight “has contributed to a culture of impunity” at the agency.
Reeves, now 38, came to Canada as a child. He lived here for more than 25 years but never became a citizen. He was deported in 2017 as a result of his criminal record, which includes multiple low-level drug offences.
Reeves, the father of two Canadian teenagers, was prescribed methadone following a serious knee injury he suffered in 2008 while working at the since-closed Heinz ketchup factory in Leamington, Ont.
Reeves’ immigration lawyer, Samuel Loeb of the Refugee Law Office, only obtained the letter from the Jamaican Ministry of Health after he filed an Access to Information request to the government.
Loeb also obtained internal CBSA emails and officers’ notes detailing the agency’s unsuccessful attempts to find treatment for Reeves in Jamaica. This evidence also was not shared with the court. Instead, CBSA officials suggested treatment would be available.
A CBSA officer filed an affidavit stating that Reeves “may be admitted for treatment” at a hospital in
Kingston, even though internal documents show the officer had weeks earlier been told by hospital officials that Reeves would be denied treatment. The CBSA officer did not include any of his correspondence with Jamaican authorities in his affidavit.
“This kind of non-disclosure of evidence when the stakes are so high is a grave wrongdoing,” said Louis Century, Reeves’ lawyer for his civil claim against the government. “We think that accountability for these events is long overdue.”
Manson, the federal court judge, wrote in his decision that although the management of Reeves’ withdrawal symptoms was a “serious issue,” he failed to prove it would cause “irreparable harm on a clear, non-speculative basis.”
Relying on CBSA’s evidence, Manson said Reeves “has been given surety that he will have access to care for his addiction in Jamaica.”
Manson’s decision and Reeves’ subsequent deportation “were the direct result of the CBSA’s misrepresentations and withholding of evidence” from the court, Reeves alleges in his lawsuit.
In an interview from his home in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, Reeves said that when he landed in Jamaica, he was taken by ambulance from the airport to a hospital where Canadian officials had told him he would be treated for his addiction.
When he arrived, he said he was assessed in the emergency department but told he could not be admitted for drug treatment.
“They’re like, ‘We don’t do that type of treatment here.’ ”
Reeves said he endured weeks of painful withdrawal symptoms — vomiting and nausea, muscle pains and migraine headaches — and was bedridden for more than two months.