The complainant was a Canada Border Services Agency Hearings Officer who attended a Refugee Protection Division hearing as Minister's Counsel.
The complainant alleged that the member behaved in an unacceptable and rude manner during the hearing. More specifically, the complainant alleged that the member's tone was dry and lacked courtesy and that the member made comments which lacked in professionalism. In addition, the member allegedly requiredthe proceedings to continue from 8:30am to 1:00pm without a health break.
Pursuant to the Procedures for Making a Complaint about a Member, and consistent with the recommendation of the Ombudsperson, the Chairperson referred the complaint for investigation by the Office of the Ombudsperson. The final investigation report came to the following conclusions:
- There was only one isolated instance where there was some evidence of the member using a dry tone, and this finding was based on the member's own admission. This incident was not observed by the Office of the Ombudsperson when reviewing the recording of the hearing. Instead, the member's overall behaviour was courteous and respectful. This allegation was unfounded.
- Beyond the complainant's allegations, there was no evidence of the member lacking courtesy or professionalism or making inappropriate comments to any party at the hearing. This allegation was unfounded.
- Other than the complainant's allegation, there was no evidence that the member did not grant necessary health breaks during the hearing. This allegation was unfounded.
- Other than the complainant's allegation, there was no evidence in the audio recording of the member's behaviour being unacceptable or abusive. This allegation was unfounded.
The investigation report was provided to the Chairperson. He was satisfied that the investigation was thorough and fair. The Chairperson accepted the conclusions in the report and found that there were no breaches of the Code of Conduct for Members of the IRB.
The complaint was unfounded and the file was closed.