Akwesasne Residents Repeatedly Subjected to Improper Interrogation by Canadian Border Services Agency

CORNWALL, Ontario, July 18, 2019 (Newswire.com) - The law firms of Milosevic Fiske (Cameron Fiske), Gluckstein Lawyers (Sandev Purewal and Jordan Assaraf), and Keith L. Gordon have filed a class action law suit in the Federal Court on behalf of the residents of Cornwall Island (a part of the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory) against the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) and the Attorney General of Canada.

In 2009, the Government of Canada suddenly moved the Canadian Port of Entry from Cornwall Island to the mainland in the City of Cornwall. Approximately three years later, in 2012, the Canadian Government amended the Customs Act (section 99.5) to deal with what it termed “a mixed traffic corridor”: a site that involved the presence of both persons who were travelling within Canada (domestic travellers), and travellers arriving in Canada from the United States. Notably, Cornwall is the only Port of Entry that the Canadian government has designated as a “mixed traffic corridor.”

The impact of the decision to relocate the Port of Entry to Cornwall has dramatically and negatively impacted the lives of Akwesasne residents. On a daily basis, the residents travel between Cornwall Island and the city of Cornwall in order to carry out a variety of activities—such as travelling to work, shopping, dropping their children off at school, and attending appointments and meetings. In doing so, Akwesasne residents are moving from one part of Ontario to another—similar to the way that Toronto Islands residents do when they travel to mainland Toronto.

The Statement of Claim alleges that Akwesasne domestic travellers have been repeatedly and routinely subjected to improper interrogation, detention, searches, and seizures of property by CBSA since 2012. The Statement of Claim alleges that the Attorney General of Canada and the CBSA have been systematically negligent, breached their fiduciary duties to the Plaintiff and Proposed Class, and violated the Plaintiff’s and Class Members’ Charter rights.

For further information, please contact:

Cameron Fiske: 416-916-1387 – email: [email protected]

Jordan Assaraf: 416-408-4252 – e-mail: [email protected]

Keith Gordon: 613-361-9113 – e-mail: [email protected]

Source: Gluckstein Lawyers