In my view, these unexplained discrepancies in your evidence represent irreconcilable versions of events as to times and location, as well as, improbable lapses in procedure on the part of two employees of U.S. and Canadian border agencies, the very evening that your name and case was the subject of local media coverage. .

I have also examined the three notarized statements which you have tendered as evidence to support your testimony. (exhibits P-2/3/4). When examined closely, a number of discrepancies again become apparent. In exhibit P-2, a sworn statement by Sandra Koppe, she states that she received a telephone call from you at 10:45pm on October 30, 1992 and that you indicated that you were calling from the United States. This statement contradicts your testimony that you telephoned the Koppe residence twice and did not get an answer until 11:15pm.

Secondly, Mr. Heinz Koppe's declaration, exhibit P-4, states that you arrived at his home by car at approximately 11:30 to 11:45 pm on October 30, 1992 and further states you were accompanied by another man who dropped you off then left. When this evidence is compared to Mr. Fisher's testimony and affidavit,(exhibit P-7), another discrepancy appears. At point 9 of his affidavit, Mr. Fisher declares "that upon entering Canada Mr. Irving was asked no questions and made no statements and that we were waved through the border and drove to the residence of Heinz Koppe where I left Mr. Irving at 12:45 pm. This is also at odds with Mr. Fisher's testimony.

Furthermore, you testified that you spoke with Sandra Koppe at 11:15 pm yet Mr. Fisher in his affidavit at point 7 says that you left his residence at 11:10 pm. Your testimony was that you left the Fisher residence at 11:2O pm.

Mr. Koppe's affidavit states you told him you were in the United States for a couple of hours yet your testimony and the statement of Mr. Fisher indicate it was closer to one hour.

In examining the affidavits of Heinz Koppe, Sandra Koppe and Joyce Chen, I have noted that you were the source of the information concerning your purported trip to the United States on October 30, 1992. None of these parties have any independent evidence which would show that you did in fact leave Canada as you have claimed. In light of this fast and in view of the discrepancies I have pointed out, I have given little weight to this evidence when examined in relation to the other evidence before me.

The Immigration officials have presented a persuasive case against you Mr. Irving. The most damaging evidence is the computer printout from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service in Blaine, Washington entitled TECS II (exhibit C-13, attachment A). It shows that Mr. Fisher's 1990 blue Lincoln entered the United States several times between September 11, 1992 and November 4, 1992 at Blaine, Washington. It does not show any entry for October 30, 1992 when you claimed to have entered the United States in Mr. Fisher's vehicle. When this piece of evidence is examined in relation to the other evidence before this inquiry, one has to be convinced that your short trip to the United States never happened.

I find it difficult to believe that a United States Immigration Officer upon seeing your passport would not examine you closely before granting you entry. Your case had been front page news, particularly in the Vancouver area that very day. U.S. immigration officials had an interest in you which I believe is confirmed by the fact they refused your admission at Niagara Falls a few days later. I simply cannot believe that the officer would not have examined you closely before granting you entry, at a minimum placing an entry stamp in your passport.

I also have difficulty accepting your evidence that you were able to travel back into Canada without question or comment from the Canada Custom's Primary officer. At the port of Douglas there was only one lane open coming into Canada between 11:25 and 11:40pm, on October 30, 1992 as declared by Customs Inspector, Sanddip Basra . This officer was on duty at the primary inspection line at the time you claim to have reentered Canada. He has sworn that he did not see you at anytime during his shift that night. This evidence is significant, especially in light of other evidence that a lookout was placed concerning you at the port of Douglas on October 30, 1992.

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