(Hat tip: Maureen)
To give you an idea of how seriously Liberals take Canada and terrorism, and you, a Liberal government appointee to the Immigration and Refugee Board, Yves Bourbonnais, who was appointed by Liberals despite the fact that he had been previously convicted in 1988 on breach of trust charges, is now going to jail to join other Liberals, for taking bribes from claimants.
Of course you won’t find the word “liberal” or “Liberal” anywhere in the story. Similarly, if he were a conservative appointed by a Conservative government, you wouldn’t see the word “Liberal” anywhere.
Immigration judge gets six years in prison
The Gazette
Published: Wednesday, June 28, 2006For his leading role in a bribery scheme, former Immigration and Refugee Board judge Yves Bourbonnais was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.
“You have dishonoured yourself acting that way,” Quebec Superior Court Justice James L. Brunton said in pronouncing sentence.
Brunton also said Bourbonnais, a lawyer, had dishonoured his profession, his position as IRB commissioner and “the immigration system in this country.”
Bourbonnais, 64, pleaded guilty yesterday to 15 counts of obstruction of justice and 15 counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The charges involved 15 people who were in a “desperate situation” said crown prosecutor Lucio Garcia. They were either facing deportation for criminal activity or trying to sponsor a relative to come to Canada.
The court heard Bourbonnais passed on information to his accomplices about upcoming cases he was slated to hear. They, in turn, contacted other intermediaries who approached the people to offer them a favourable decision at their appeal in exchange for money.
“In some cases, the accomplices of Mr. Bourbonnais would ask for $10,000, $15,000” Garcia said outside court. Some people paid $6,000 and even $2,000. “But that was the range asked of these people.”
An old Montreal Gazette story from early 2004 reported this:
Mr. Bourbonnais, 62, and fellow judge Roberto Colaveccio were suspended with pay in October 2001, a year after the investigation began.
Mr. Colaveccio, who gave $3,000 to the Quebec Liberal party in 2003 and has ties to former Quebec MP Alfonso Gagliano, was not charged.
But, Sgt. Jocelyn Mimeault of the RCMP in Ottawa said the investigation is continuing and there could be more charges.
“We don’t rule out further charges,” Sgt. Mimeault said, adding the investigation found that between 50 and 60 individuals facing refugee board hearings had been contacted and offered favourable judgments in exchange for money.
In some cases, those charged were involved in smuggling people into Canada and forging documents, Sgt. Mimeault said.Mr. Bourbonnais was named to the board in 1996 by then-immigration minister Lucienne Robillard. His term was renewed in October 2000, after the investigation began, for another three years.
The appointments of Mr. Bourbonnais and Mr. Colaveccio ended last year.
A Gazette investigation in 2001 determined that Mr. Bourbonnais, a former lawyer with the Quebec justice department, lost that job after he was convicted of breach of trust for selling furniture from two courthouses and a prosecutor’s office in 1988. Mr. Bourbonnais was granted a pardon before he was named a refugee board judge.
The investigation also found that 32 of 58 refugee board appointees had ties to the federal or Quebec Liberal parties, and were often defeated candidates or relatives of Liberal office holders.
“Sources” tell me that liberals, should they gain power again in this country, will appoint Bourbonnais to the Supreme Court when he is released, which is of course something that they demand immediately such that he may be “reintegrated into society” and be “rehabilitated”.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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