|
Byfuglien could face trouble at border
By
ROSS ROMANIUK, QMI Agency
|
  
|
|
WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets could run into trouble getting their highest-paid player back into Canada from the U.S., even before he deals with his charges in court.
David Matas, a Winnipeg lawyer who deals extensively in immigration matters, said it’s enough for Canadian border authorities to even think it’s reasonable to believe that Dustin Byfuglien committed the offences he’s charged with, and refuse him entry before any conviction.
“He could be barred, as long as the Canadians think there are reasonable grounds to believe that he did the deed, so to speak,” Matas said Tuesday. “And more or less any form of evidence is admissible, so a police report might be sufficient to give them reasonable grounds to believe that the offence has been committed.”
The 26-year-old defenceman faces four charges in an alleged incident of boating while drunk or on drugs, based largely on statements from Minneapolis-area police.
If the native of Roseau, Minn., is eventually convicted of a criminal charge, he would be inadmissible to Canada — unless he acquires a temporary resident’s permit to enter the country for a specified purpose and period.
“He would be well-advised to try to get one right now,” Matas said of such a permit, adding that it “would take some paperwork, and the exercise of discretion in his favour.”
