International Law

Retirement Celebration at the IRB

By immlawyer

Today was the retirement celebration of Mr. Paul Kyba, Member of the Immigration Division, and Ms. Marnie Armstrong, Member of the Refugee Protection Division.  

Paul was with the Public Service for 35 years, 27 of which he was a Member (formerly known as an Adjudicator) with the Immigration Division.

I have appeared before Paul on a number of occasions, and have been struck at his professionalism. Paul always listened closely to both counsel and the Minister before reaching a well reasoned decision.

I appeared before Marnie Armstrong both as a Refugee Protection Officer (now called Tribunal Officers) and as counsel. In her 8 years as a Member of the Refugee Protection Division, Marnie enjoyed a strong reputation among counsel, and wrote well reasoned decisions. In her remarks today, she indicated the difficulty she had in excluding or vacating refugee claims. That comment underscored the compassion that she brought to her position, a quality that alleviated some of the hardship in the refugee determination process.

Both will be missed by IRB staff and counsel alike.

Full post as published by Canadian Immigration Blawg on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).