Russian citizen Mikhail Lennikov is being deported due to his past involvement with the KGB.

He was found to be inadmissible to Canada due to security reasons, namely his membership in a group that had engaged in acts of espionage or subversion against a democratic government. It appears that he was not a mere functionary within the organization as he was assessing informants, and collected intelligence information and was involved in counterintelligence. He made a career and over the years progressed from a rank of Lieutenant to that of Captain.

Lennikov applied for the permanent residence in Canada in 1999 and the Federal Court as a last resort has upheld Citizenship and Immigration position and agreed with the validity of the deportation order. In such cases, there must have been a remedy available to the mishap Russian, namely a request for ministerial relief in the circumstances when the Canadian government is satisfied that a person's presence in Canada would not be detrimental to the national interest. If such a relief is granted, the person is no longer inadmissible based on the above-mentioned ground of inadmissibility.

As of today, Mr. Lennikov’s deportation order has not been enforced as he found the refuge in a Vancouver church and intends to stay there until he is no longer under a threat of deportation.