OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 10/04/10 -- Seven appointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) were announced today by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.
These experienced former members of the IRB will be able to begin hearing cases quickly after a brief training period and will help reduce the backlog of refugee claims during the period of transition to the new refugee determination system. The end of their mandates coincides with the coming into force of the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, currently scheduled to be implemented in late 2011.
Aimable Ndejeru, Joulekhan Pirbay and Sylvia Roy were appointed to the Eastern Region. Joel Bousfield, Dian Forsey, Berzoor Popatia and James Waters were appointed to the Central Region.
Created in 1989, the IRB is an independent administrative tribunal that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. The Board has three divisions - the Refugee Protection Division, the Immigration Appeal Division and the Immigration Division. The IRB determines refugee protection claims made in Canada, hears immigration appeals, and conducts admissibility hearings and detention reviews.
For the biographies of the IRB members, please see below.
BACKGROUNDER
Appointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Joel A. Bousfield
Joel A. Bousfield (Toronto) was a former member of the IRB from 1998 to 2006. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Bousfield served the board in several positions, most recently as Interim Advisor to the Deputy Chairperson of the Immigration Appeal Division with the IRB. Ms. Bousfield was also appointed a member of the Ontario Board of Municipal Affairs. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McGill University and his Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University. He studied at the School of Journalism in the Faculty of Applied Arts at Ryerson Polytechnic University.
Dian J. Forsey
Dian J. Forsey (Toronto) was a former member of the IRB from 1998 to 2009. Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Forsey served as a Professional Development Advisor with the IRB. She was also Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Univirus Research of Canada, a senior board member at the Rent Review Hearings Board of Ontario, a senior partner with Thom Malcolm and Associates and President of Gosling Consultants Limited. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Memorial University in St. John's, studied History at the University of Birmingham and studied Business Administration at John Abbott College in Montreal.
Aimable Ndejuru
Aimable Ndejuru (Montreal) was a former member of the IRB from 1989 to 2001. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Ndejuru served as a Professional Development Advisor with the IRB. Mr. Ndejuru received his Ph.D. in sports sciences and anthropology from the Koln University in Germany.
Joulekhan Pirbay
Joulekhan Pirbay (Montreal) was a former member of the IRB from 1999 to 2007. Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Pirbay volunteered her time performing intensive work for persons stateless or without nationality in Madagascar. She has been a member of the National Settlement Committee of the Ismaili Council for Canada, the Director of FOCUS Canada, a literature and language teacher and a small-business owner. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Madagascar and her bachelor's and master's degrees in Hispanic Studies from the Universite de Montreal.
Berzoor Popatia
Berzoor Popatia (Toronto) was a former member of the IRB from 1997 to 2008. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Popatia was involved in extensive civic engagements through various senior leadership, governance, consulting and cultural roles. Mr. Popatia was also a lawyer specializing in civil litigation, administrative law and alternate dispute resolution. He is a former member of the Aga Khan Ismaili Conciliation and Arbitration Board for Ontario, and he worked as an anthropologist/visiting graduate student with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. Mr. Popatia received his Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and his Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia.
Sylvia Roy
Sylvia Roy (Ottawa) was a former member of the IRB from 1997 to 2007. Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Roy was a resettlement consultant with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. She has also been a Vice-Chair of the Social Assistance Review Board for the Province of Ontario, Executive Director of the Sudbury and District United Way/Centraide and Director of Human Resources at the West Nipissing General Hospital. She received her Bachelor of Commerce degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury.
James Waters
James Waters (Toronto) was a former member of the IRB from 1997 to 2009. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Waters worked as a Professional Development Advisor with the IRB. He has been an associate with MacKenzie, Wood, Magill & Blakeman, an associate with the Law Office of Tobias & Bagshaw and a sole practitioner in Huntsville. He also served as a child advocate with the Office of the Children's Lawyer, as a deputy judge in a Small Claims Court in the Central East region and as President of the Muskoka Law Association. Mr. Waters received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and his Bachelor of Laws from the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979.
Contacts:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Minister's Office
Alykhan Velshi
Alykhan.Velshi@cic.gc.ca
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Communications Branch
Media Relations
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
