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Canada's Minister of Immigration, Hon. Lena Metledge Diab
Zain Ul-Haq is a young leader in the global climate movement who was deported from Canada on January 26th, 2025, as a result of his participation in non-violent civil disobedience intended to raise public awareness about the impending climate disaster.
He and his Canadian wife, Sophia Papp, had their Spousal Sponsorship application denied without substantive legal rationale merely 48 hours before Zain’s deportation; a lack of 'substantive explanation' for this decision is unlawful, and the timing of the refusal meant that Zain and Sophia did not have legal access to procedural fairness in order to appeal the decision.
Please join us in asking Canada's Minister of Immigration, Hon. Lena Metledge Diab, and Prime Minister Right Hon. Mark Carney to exercise their discretion by expediting Zain and Sophia's outland Spousal Sponsorship application and granting Zain a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) without delay.
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Petition by
To:
Canada's Minister of Immigration, Hon. Lena Metledge Diab
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Minister Lena Metledge Diab and Prime Minister Mark Carney,
I write to you about an important matter concerning the reunification of a family which, if left unaddressed, associates Canada’s reputation with the cruel deportation policies in the United States of America.
I know that this Liberal government can do better.
Zain Ul-Haq is a 25 year old nonviolent climate activist, who is married to and has been living with a Canadian citizen, Sophia Papp, for 2 years.
On January 26, 2025, Zain was deported by the Canada Borders Services Agency (CBSA) for mischief charges arising from nonviolent climate activism. Not only is this decision contrary to Canadian compassionate and family values, but Zain and Sophia’s legal counsel, Randall Cohn, has stated that IRCC's rejection of their spousal sponsorship application without substantive explanation by the IRCC case-file officer is illegal, as it fails to meet the burden in law under Baker and Vavilov.
The couple was also denied their right to procedural fairness under the law because the Spousal Sponsorship application was unlawfully denied a mere 48 hours before Zain's deportation date. The lack of compassion combined with the illegality and haste of Zain's deportation is of serious concern, both in terms of common decency and in upholding the integrity of the law.
Zain had been living in Canada since he was 18, and is a firm believer in nonviolence.
Deporting Zain for his environmental leadership is unethical, and the possibility that the Canadian government used illegal measures to split up a family is appalling and outrageous.
I ask that you:
1. Grant Zain Haq a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) immediately, so he can reunite with Sophia in Canada; and
2. Expedite Sophia and Zain's Spousal Sponsorship application.
Zain’s deportation may have the unfortunate consequence of presenting a negative view of Canada to the world, where we lack future foresight, compassion, and common sense. I urge those in power to use their lawful discretion, to bring Zain back to his wife in Canada, instead of inflicting years of undue hardship upon them.
This is a serious matter of real-life significance for Zain and Sophia and their large community in B.C., and also is of symbolic detriment in terms of Canada’s image in the world as a country that claims to value freedom of expression, environmental responsibility, and integrity in nonviolence and tolerance.
I call on you to exercise your moral authority and bring Zain home to Canada, and by doing so to show that Canadian political leaders understand why young people are afraid for the future of the planet.