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ASSOCIATES Fighting refuge for Immigration lawyer represents controversial 'war resisters' in their battle to remain in Canada. BY LAURA KAMINKER are labelled all of these. The 29-year-old calls her clients "war resisters," and she represents them with razor-sharp intel- lect and quietly fi erce passion. Manning, called to the bar in June 2008, H practises immigration and refugee law with Toronto firm VanderVennen Lehrer. Her most controversial clients — Jeremy Hinzman, James Corey Glass, Kimberly Rivera, Patrick Hart, and others — are seeking sanctuary in Canada after deserting the United States military because of their opposition to the Iraq War. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) has consistently ruled against these cases, leading to deportation orders eroes, peacemakers, people of con- science. Cowards, opportunists, traitors. Alyssa Manning's clients for the former soldiers and their families. If deported, they likely face court martial, prison, and dishonourable discharge, the equivalent of a felony offence. Three war resisters who had been living in British Columbia, who are not Manning's clients, have already been deported. Manning believes the negative IRB decisions are contrary to both Canadian and international law. She navigates her clients through the complex refugee claims system, from initial application and IRB hearing, through stays of removal, applications to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, requests for judicial review, and Federal Court reviews of negative decisions. To date, Manning has won several stays of removal and leaves to 14 M AY 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com appeal. More Federal Court reviews are in the pipeline. As a philosophy and political science major at the University of Toronto, then at Osgoode Hall Law School, Manning was interested in criminal law, international human rights, and using the law to advance social justice. She saw these interests merge in immigration law when she articled and later worked at Parkdale Community Legal Services, a legal aid clinic in Toronto's west end. "In immigration law, you're dealing with people and their real experiences," says Manning. "You also deal with higher principles of law. So it's both aspects of law that I like." Working with veteran refugee lawyer Geraldine Sadoway at Parkdale, Manning doesn't want to fight in a war because he believes it's immoral or illegal, he should be allowed to make that choice." — ALYSSA MANNING "It's my personal belief that if a soldier SANDRA STRANGEMORE