Conservatives

A Lebanese immigrant ordered deported in December 2019 after he was convicted for possession of fentanyl and hydromorphone for the purposes of trafficking has won another chance to stay in Canada.

Mohamad Kassar, who arrived in Canada as a permanent resident about 35 years ago, was scheduled to be removed to Lebanon on Feb. 13. Instead, Federal Court Justice Angus Grant stayed his removal because Kassar has a preliminary diagnosis suggesting he might have a lung tumour.

“Given (Kassar’s) medical vulnerability, and given his dependence on uninterrupted treatment to avoid morbidity and potential mortality, I am satisfied that (he) has provided clear, convincing, and non-speculative evidence of the harm that he would experience if his removal is not deferred,” Grant wrote in a recent decision out of Toronto.

Over the years, fentanyl has become the dominant street drug across Canada, taking thousands of lives.

But the judge was “convinced that the balance of convenience in this matter rests with” Kassar.