Government of Canada Announces Seven Reappointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Normand Forest was reappointed in the Montreal regional office, and Benjamin Dolin was reappointed in the Ottawa regional office. Rose Andrachuk, John Badowski, Susan Kular, Dominique Setton and Berto Volpentesta were also reappointed, in the Toronto regional office.

These reappointments were made in accordance with the IRB's merit-based appointment process.

Minister Kenney is committed to delivering on the Government of Canada's promise to fill vacancies on the Board with qualified individuals as quickly as possible after vacancies arise. Since October 2008, the Minister has made 83 appointments and 47 reappointments to the IRB. The IRB has been at 80% or above of its full complement since January 2009, and at 93% or above of its full complement since November 2009.

Created in 1989, the IRB is an independent administrative tribunal that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. The Board has three divisions - the Refugee Protection Division, the Immigration Appeal Division and the Immigration Division. The IRB determines refugee protection claims made in Canada, hears immigration appeals, and conducts admissibility hearings and detention reviews.

For the biographies on the IRB members, please see below.

BACKGROUNDER

Reappointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Normand Forest

Normand Forest (Montreal) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on March 3, 2008. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Forest was a policy advisor and spent a number of years as a freelance Communication Consultant for various institutional clients. Mr. Forest studied in the field of Communications at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

Rose Andrachuk

Rose Andrachuk (Toronto) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on April 21, 2008. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Ms. Andrachuk worked in the area of legal and mediation practice, and as Chair and Trustee of the Board of the Toronto Catholic District school Board. Ms. Andrachuk received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Arts and her Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Toronto. She received her Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa.

John Badowski

John Michael Badowski (Toronto) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on April 21, 2008. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Badowski was a member of the Toronto Police Service for more than 26 years, in both supervisory and senior management positions. Mr. Badowski is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal bestowed upon him by the Governor General for his work during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and has studied at the University of Western Ontario, the Toronto Police College and the Canadian Police College.

Benjamin Dolin

Benjamin R. Dolin (Ottawa) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on January 7, 2008. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Dolin was legal counsel with the Security, Terrorism and Governance Team of the Criminal Law Policy Section at the Department of Justice. Prior to that, he was an analyst for the Parliament of Canada where he worked extensively with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Senate Special Committee on the Anti-terrorism Act. He has also worked as a litigator in private practice. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from McGill University, his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Manitoba and his Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa. Mr. Dolin was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1995.

Susan Kular

Susan Kular (Toronto) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on April 21, 2008. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Ms. Kular managed large business intelligence, operations, research and infrastructure projects for large private and public corporations. Ms. Kular received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees from the Punjab University in India and her Doctorate degree (Geography) from the University of Western Ontario.

Dominique Setton

Dominique Setton (Toronto) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on March 3, 2008. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Ms. Setton was an investigator for the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants and a Compliance Manager and Privacy Officer with Trans Union of Canada Inc. She also had her own general private practice. She received her Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and her Bachelor of Laws from the Universite de Montreal.

Berto Volpentesta

Berto Volpentesta (Toronto) was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on May 1, 2008. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Volpentesta was the Executive Director with the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants and also the Senior Consultant with Cannex Immigration Specialists. He received his Bachelor of Arts from York University and his Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca