Your Singhs today - The secret to remaining in Canada

We couldn't let the week end without a story about Sikhs who have entered Canuckistan by questionable means, and stayed on, in spite of questionable behaviour, whether their hosts country like it or not. 

Today we present the heart-warming story of Jagjit Singh, who has been allowed by the Federal Court of Canada to remain in the country "on compassionate grounds", just moments before minions of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) were set to begin the physical deportation process.

Mr Singh, whose current location is a state secret, arrived in Canada in 2021 on a temporary resident visa and immediately filed a refugee claim. [SFX，music: "As Time Goes By".] In January 2025, he married "L.B.", a Canadian citizen, and withdrew his refugee claim shortly after she submitted an inland spousal sponsorship application on his behalf. 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) -- the government department whose mission is to welcome half a million foreigners to Canada in the coming year -- confirmed in May that L.B. met the eligibility criteria to sponsor Mr Singh, but no decision on his application for permanent residence application has yet been made. 

In early August, Mr Singh asked the CBSA to defer his removal until at least a preliminary decision was made on his sponsorship application. [SFX: "As Time Goes By" swells in background.] The CBSA refused, citing insufficient evidence that his removal would cause serious harm.

Federal Court Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go disagreed, finding that the immigration officer misinterpreted their discretion and failed to properly assess evidence that Singh's removal would significantly harm his wife, who suffers from... wait for it... ADHD and relies on him for daily structure, medication reminders, and financial support. 

The judge did not discose L.B.'s name, let alone her race or religion -- issues of privacy, you know -- but noted that L.B. has no other reliable family support and that Mr Singh also contributes financially to his sister's household, where the couple lives. 

Justice Go acknowledged the public interest in enforcing removal orders -- murmurs from the well of the court: "Yah, sure. Hahahahaha." -- but said she found that any delay in processing Mr Singh's permanent residence application lay with IRCC, not the innocent Sikh! "Taking into consideration the irreparable harm to the Applicant’s spouse," she ruled, "granting the stay until the underlying application is determined would be just and equitable."

So Mr Singh remains in Canada, his deportation now on hold until the court decides whether to grant judicial review of CBSA’s decision to deny his deferral request. [SFX: "As Time Goes By", up and out.]

Justice Go, who was appointed to the Federal Court of Canada by Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface, has no legal training. However, she was for years a human rights advocate championing better treatment of migrant workers, refugees, asylum-seekers, etc and so forth. 

Walt is unable to find any record of her having denied any application by any such person to remain in the Great No-longer-white North. So the secret to being allowed to remain in Canada is obviously: when you're judge-shopping, shop wisely!

Thanks and a big bowl of Meow Mix to BCF for the lead.

Memo from Ed. to Walt: I'm really sorry, but I couldn't figure out how to embed the SFX. Readers will just have to hum it to themselves.