Supreme Court won’t hear immigration detention case involving Jamaican man

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a deported man’s claim that the five years he spent in immigration custody amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Alvin Brown arrived in Canada from Jamaica in 1983 as a child and became a permanent resident, but the government revoked his residency status in 2005 and ordered him to leave following a string of convictions, some for violent offences.

The Canada Border Services Agency took him into custody in early 2011 and his detention was renewed regularly until his September 2016 deportation.

In December that year, the Ontario Superior Court ruled against Brown, finding his rights hadn’t been violated and saying he had received adequate medical care while in custody.

The judge said the detention was warranted given Brown’s history, and blamed Jamaican authorities for much of the delay in deporting him.

The decision was upheld on appeal earlier this year and, as usual, the Supreme Court gave no reason for refusing to hear the case.