Vancouver's First Lutheran Church is holding a fourth anniversary dinner for Burnaby resident and former KGB agent Mikhail Lennikov on Saturday, June 1.
June 2 marks four years that Lennikov has been living in church sanctuary. Lennikov was ordered deported on June 3, 2009, because of his history with the KGB, the former Soviet secret service, although he's argued he poses no threat to Canadian security. Lennikov's wife and son have been allowed to stay in the country on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and have also been living in the church.
Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian has been an outspoken supporter of Lennikov, but Julian can't attend the dinner this year.
"It's a sad moment, when you think what the family's going through," he told the NOW.
In 2009, Julian obtained thousands of pages of government files on Lennikov.
"There's nothing in his files which indicates there's any reason for the immigration minister to deny on compassionate and humanitarian grounds for the Lennikov family to stay in Canada," Julian said. "The family's been through a lot. Mr. Lennikov has spent years in what is, in effect, a prison. He's not allowed to leave the church grounds, he has not left the church grounds, he hasn't really been out in the sunlight in years. I think it's just another example of what's been a really wrong-headed immigration policy by this government."
Julian said his constituents feel the same.
"There is overwhelming support for the Lennikovs in our community, in Burnaby and New Westminster, and I regularly get emails from folks who want the government to simply allow them to stay together - to allow them to stay and allow Mr. Lennikov to leave the church and walk out a free man," he said.
The practice of sanctuary as a last resort for asylum seekers has existed for centuries, but the right to religious refuge is not enshrined in Canadian law.
According to the Canadian Border Services Agency, Lennikov is still subject to a removal order.
"He is in violation of Canada's immigration law and is in Canada illegally," wrote CBSA communication advisor Faith St. John, in an email to the NOW. "There are no places in Canada where individuals can retreat and be immune from Canadian law."
St. John said sanctuary cases undermine the integrity of Canada's immigration program and CBSA officers can still enter, or seek a warrant to enter, any building in which a person who evading removal may be staying.
"However, the CBSA strives to ensure that the appropriate balance is struck between our obligation to enforce immigration laws in a fair, balanced and consistent manner, while mitigating risks to individuals, officers, and the general public," she added. "Whenever possible if the individual is not an immediate risk to the community, the CBSA prefers to negotiate with those individuals who have retreated to a place of worship to avoid removal from Canada and to have them voluntarily exit the place of worship for arrest by CBSA or other law enforcement agencies."
The NOW called the church for comment, but neither the pastor nor Lennikov responded.
