B.C. climate justice advocate facing deportation

A B.C. climate justice advocate is once again facing deportation after he was arrested multiple times during nonviolent demonstrations.

Zain Haq arrived in Canada to study at Simon Fraser university in 2019 and gained popularity in the B.C. climate activism community.

But Haq says the Canadian Border Service Agency began to scrutinize his study permit after he became involved in nonviolent civil disobedience and was arrested nearly a dozen times.

Due to his arrests, Haq has violated the terms of his permit. But last year, Canadian immigration officials halted his deportation, and issued a temporary resident permit two days before he was scheduled to be sent back to Pakistan.

His wife, Sophie Papp, urged Canada’s immigration and public safety ministers to call off his deportation and applied to sponsor his permanent residency application.

“My understanding is that was the reason why the removal was halted was to give time for that application to be processed” Randall Cohn, Haq’s immigration lawyer, told The Leader Spirit.

Now, almost 10 months later, surrounded by supporters, Haq addressed the public as the status of his application remains unclear.

“The application was never received, never processed, the TRP therefore expired and CBSA contacted Zain in December and told him, ‘because you no longer have a TRP in place, we have to now start the removal process again,’” said Cohn.

Cohn says he has asked the CBSA to exercise their right to stop the removal, but the agency declined.

“Removal will lead to significant hardship for me and my spouse and in the long run it won’t serve the public safety of Canada,” Haq explained.

“Our only options, at this point, are to either ask the ministers to intervene once again, or we’re also asking the court to order a stay of removal later this week. Although there are a bunch of legal complexities there, and I can’t guarantee success,” said Cohn.

Haq is scheduled to leave Vancouver for Toronto on Jan. 25 and fly to Pakistan on Jan. 26. He remains optimistic about his future.

“For now I think we’re just trying to stop the deportation, and I am focused on building a life here in Canada with my spouse,” said Haq.

“I think the main priority right now is to focus on my marriage, my family, and my establishment in Canada. And we’ll have to see how it goes.”