A discussion about the increasing use of artificial intelligence to decide immigration applications.

Mario Bellissimo is a Canadian immigration lawyer in Toronto, and the former past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration Law Section.

4:00 How imprecise wording in the forms can result in misrepresentation findings where immigration becomes a game of gotcha.

10:30 How the laws of procedural fairness and discretion will need to be re-written as a result of the implementation of artificial intelligence and predicative learning in immigration systems.

13:30 How using AI to triage applications is itself a form of automated decision making and why is there a lack of transparency about this?

19:25 The history of the introduction of AI at IRCC.

28:20 What is Chinook and ?

36:00 How processing delays can lead to applications being denied simply because they are moot.

39:00 How does one learn what AI is being used or whether a decision was made by AI?

44:45 If AI flags a file as being problematic does that create a proxy decision wherein a visa officer will want to affirm the AI.

1:03 AI as counsel

55:00 Is it possible that AI will lead to a better immigration system as the AI will be able to thoroughly scan applications that humans have to skim given the limited number of decision makers and the large number of applications.

1:13 The future. When AI analyzes the social media of a representative when assessing their client’s application.

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Carl Brault worked for almost twenty years at the Canada Border Services Agency. His roles included Border Services Officer, Intelligence Analyst and Inland Enforcement Officer.

He currently provides consultation services to authorized immigration representatives and can be reached at cb-advisingservices@outlook.com.

3:00 Working as a summer student as a Border Services Officer. 

6:30 September 11, 2011 

9:50 What kind of training does a CBSA officer receive before they start working at the border? 18:10 Working as a CBSA Intelligence Analyst 

21:30 Working as an Inland Enforcement Officer 

25:00 Is CBSA understaffed or overstaffed? 

28:30 Level of autonomy officers have in deferral requests. 

38:30 What should lawyers or individuals do when making deferral of removal requests? 

42:30 The ability of CBSA to make positive decisions by not acting. 

48:30 What is the difference in culture across different offices? 

51:15 What are examples of where counsel harms their clients cause at CBSA? 

54:00 Do CBSA officers care about how lawyers are dressed? 

56:30 Has the attitude towards removals at CBSA regarding removals gotten more rigid? 

1:05:00 Do CBSA officers want more discretion when it comes to removals

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Sarah Runyon is a criminal defense lawyer on Vancouver Island.

3:00 What is sexual assault? 

5:30 Is all sex between an employer and employee deemed to be non consensual? 

6:00 Why was sexual assault separated from general assault? Is rape a distinct offence from sexual assault? Are there degrees of sexual assault? 

7:30 If someone is at a nightclub and they start dancing with another person without their consent does that fit the definition of sexual assault? 

15:00 Evidentiary issues. 

16:30 Often the criminal defense bar wants judges to have a wide discretion in terms of what they can consider. Is this the same in the case of sexual assault? 

21:00 Does the maxim “it is better that five guilty people go free than one innocent person go to jail.” Is the legal system moving away from this in sexual assault? 

27:00 Is a restorative justice approach better than the current criminal justice system? 

28:45 Can sexual assault be verbal? 

33:00 Is revenge porn sexual assault? 

34:00 Is there a statutory limitation on sexual assault? 

35:00 Is being drunk a defense to sexual assault? 

44:00 If someone is drunk are they capable of consent? 

48:30 How does one determine whether the complainant was intoxicated? 

51:00 How does one show an honest but reasonable belief as to consent? 

1:03 How does the “beyond a reasonable doubt” onus work in sexual assault cases that are “he-said she said”. 

1:10 Trial by jury or judge.

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A discussion of the 2021 immigration platforms of the Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats, Greens, Bloc Quebecois and the People’s Party of Canada. She can be found on Twitter @Twimmigration.

Chantal Desloges is the Founder and Senior Partner of Desloges Law Group.

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