Feds can keep border agency info secret in Chinese refugee-claim case
OTTAWA — The federal government can keep a lid of secrecy on information a Chinese refugee claimant says could be vital to his case.
In a ruling made public Thursday, Federal Court Justice Simon Fothergill accepted the government’s plea to shield portions of two Canada Border Services Agency documents from disclosure in the case of Shiyuan Shen, who is wanted for alleged fraud in China.
The government had argued that revealing the protected information would hurt international relations and shatter Canada’s credibility in the eyes of foreign allies and sources.
Shen wanted to see full versions of the border agency documents, arguing they might help him show that evidence the government used to oppose his refugee claim was extracted through torture.