By Canadian Press

Man who sought refuge in B.C. church loses another attempt to clear his name

Nov 21, 2017 | 10:45 AM

VANCOUVER — A Federal Court judge in Vancouver has dismissed another application from an El Salvadoran refugee who says his name has been tarnished by the Canadian government over allegations of past links to terrorism.

Jose Figueroa is now a permanent resident of Canada, but he spent two years in asylum in a B.C. church to avoid deportation after the former Conservative government labelled him as a member of a terrorist group.

The deportation order was withdrawn shortly after the 2015 election of the federal Liberal government, but Figueroa believes his name is still flagged in government databases as a person with alleged terrorist links.

In 2016, the government rejected his first request for a certificate that would state he is not on a terrorist list, and Figueroa applied again earlier this year for a judicial review when the government missed a legislated deadline to reply.

The government refused for a second time to issue the certificate and also asked the court to reject the judicial review.

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In a decision released Tuesday, the Federal Court agreed with the government and tossed out the judicial review, but ordered the government to pay its own costs because it didn’t reply in time to Figueroa’s request for a certificate.

The Canadian Press