This letter, sent聽from the Jamaican Ministry of Health to the 91原创 Border Services Agency recommending Twain Reeves be kept in 91原创 on humanitarian grounds, was never shared at Reeves’s deportation hearing.
In deciding whether the deportation of a methadone-addicted Jamaican citizen should be allowed to go ahead, Federal Court judge Michael D. Manson weighed the evidence in front of him.
The man, Twain Anthony Reeves, was being given methadone by Canadian doctors to manage his pain following a workplace injury, and the prescription opioid is illegal in Jamaica. Despite this, Manson concluded, there was 鈥渘o clear evidence鈥 the man would be unable to find other effective treatment in his home country, so he denied Reeves鈥 request to delay his deportation.
It appears there was evidence, but it was never shared with the judge.
Two weeks before Manson鈥檚 ruling, the Jamaican Ministry of Health had sent a letter to the 91原创 Border Services Agency clearly stating the treatment Reeves required was 鈥渘ot available.鈥 The letter, signed by Jamaica鈥檚 chief medical officer, suggested the man 鈥渞emain in 91原创 on humanitarian grounds where appropriate treatment can be provided.鈥
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The letter was never disclosed to the court or the man鈥檚 lawyer. Now, Reeves is suing the federal government, accusing CBSA officials of deliberately withholding the evidence and misleading the court.
鈥淐BSA officers engaged in a pattern of illegal, abusive, arbitrary, bad faith and negligent conduct,鈥 Reeves alleges in his lawsuit, which seeks $6 million in damages and accuses the federal government of violating several of his Charter rights.
Had the letter been disclosed to the Federal Court, the lawsuit alleges, Reeves would not have been deported until after he had been weaned off methadone, and he would not 鈥渉ave suffered the debilitating effects of methadone withdrawal without treatment or care.鈥
The CBSA has filed in court a notice of intent to defend against the lawsuit. A spokesperson declined to respond to specific allegations in the lawsuit, saying the agency does not comment on 鈥渕atters before the courts.鈥
‘A grave wrongdoing’
The damning allegations of unethical behaviour by CBSA officers comes amid growing calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 government to make good on its promise to create a system of oversight for the federal agency, which has the power to arrest, detain and deport non-citizens.
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The CBSA is the only law enforcement agency in the country without independent oversight, and the lawsuit argues that the lack of oversight 鈥渉as contributed to a culture of impunity鈥 at the agency.
Reeves, now 38, came to 91原创 as a child. He lived here for more than 25 years but never became a citizen.
He was deported in 2017 as a result of his criminal record, which includes multiple low-level drug offences.
Reeves, the father of two Canadian teenagers, was prescribed methadone following a serious knee injury he suffered in 2008 while working at the since-closed Heinz ketchup factory in Leamington, Ont.
Reeves鈥 immigration lawyer, Samuel Loeb of the Refugee Law Office, only obtained the letter from the Jamaican Ministry of Health after he filed an Access to Information request to the government.
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This letter, sent聽from the Jamaican Ministry of Health to the 91原创 Border Services Agency recommending Twain Reeves be kept in 91原创 on humanitarian grounds, was never shared at Reeves’s deportation hearing.
Giovanni Capriotti
Loeb also obtained internal CBSA emails and officers鈥 notes detailing the agency鈥檚 unsuccessful attempts to find treatment for Reeves in Jamaica. This evidence also was not shared with the court. Instead, CBSA officials suggested treatment would be available.
A CBSA officer filed an affidavit stating that Reeves 鈥渕ay be admitted for treatment鈥 at a hospital in Kingston, even though internal documents show the officer had weeks earlier been told by hospital officials that Reeves would be denied treatment. The CBSA officer did not include any of his correspondence with Jamaican authorities in his affidavit.
鈥淭his kind of non-disclosure of evidence when the stakes are so high is a grave wrongdoing,鈥 said Louis Century, Reeves鈥 lawyer for his civil claim against the government. 鈥淲e think that accountability for these events is long overdue.鈥
Manson, the federal court judge, wrote in his decision that although the management of Reeves鈥 withdrawal symptoms was a 鈥渟erious issue,鈥 he failed to prove it would cause 鈥渋rreparable harm on a clear, non-speculative basis.鈥
Relying on CBSA鈥檚 evidence, Manson said Reeves 鈥渉as been given surety that he will have access to care for his addiction in Jamaica.鈥
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Manson鈥檚 decision and Reeves鈥 subsequent deportation 鈥渨ere the direct result of the CBSA鈥檚 misrepresentations and withholding of evidence鈥 from the court, Reeves alleges in his lawsuit.
After his deportation, the man suffered debilitating withdrawal symptoms
In an interview from his home in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, Reeves said that when he landed in Jamaica, he was taken by ambulance from the airport to a hospital where Canadian officials had told him he would be treated for his addiction.
When he arrived,聽he said he was assessed in the emergency department but told he could not be admitted for drug treatment.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 do that type of treatment here.鈥欌
Reeves said he endured weeks of painful withdrawal symptoms 鈥 vomiting and nausea, muscle pains and migraine headaches 鈥 and was bedridden for more than two months.
Before he was deported, Reeves was held for two-and-a-half years in immigration detention in a maximum-security provincial jail 鈥 a period of time more than twice as long as all of his criminal sentences combined. He was given methadone daily by the jail鈥檚 medical staff.
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An addictions expert provided evidence in Federal Court that it would be difficult for Reeves to reduce his dependence on methadone while he remained incarcerated.
Jamaica鈥檚 Consul-General in 91原创, Kurt Davis, said the Jamaican government is aware of the lawsuit, but he could not comment on the allegations in it.
Trudeau government has long promised oversight for Canadian border agents
The lawsuit also asks the court to order the government to create an oversight body for the CBSA that would be able to investigate allegations of misconduct.
Trudeau has for several years promised to pass legislation that would create an oversight mechanism for the CBSA, but his government has yet to do so. Their latest attempt, , had its second reading in the House of Commons in November.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in whose ministry the CBSA resides, declined to answer questions about the lawsuit.
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