By ELIZABETH THOMPSON, NATIONAL BUREAU, Ottawa Sun. March 17 2009

A longtime Conservative who opposes same-sex marriage has been appointed to the tribunal that decides whether gays get refugee status in Canada. Doug Cryer, a former director of public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, has also publicly defended the right of churches to denounce homosexuality. “Doug Cryer of the EFC said the church has a right to say that homosexual behaviour is sinful, just as it can say that adultery is sinful,” according to a November 2006 edition of CanadianChristianity.com.

“It is part of God’s teaching,” Cryer told the publication.

Cryer is among a dozen people appointed by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last month to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board — an independent administrative tribunal that hears applications for refugee status.

GROUNDS FOR STATUS

Among the many grounds for refugee status is the fear of being hurt or killed in their home country because they are homosexual.

Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Kenney, defended Cryer’s appointment, saying the minister doesn’t apply a religious litmus test to nominations.

Just because someone opposes same-sex marriage doesn’t mean that they oppose refugee status for homosexuals, he said.

Cryer referred phone calls to a spokeswoman for the IRB who said simply that he will have to adhere to the board’s code of conduct.