TORONTO — Conrad Black stands a good chance of getting a temporary resident permit to return to Canada if he is released at his bail hearing Thursday, says one of Canada's top immigration lawyers.

If he is, Black -- a Montreal-born businessman who gave up his Canadian citizenship to become a member of Britain's House of Lords -- would be among nearly 1,000 foreign nationals who are granted such permits to live temporarily in this country every year.

Lorne Waldman of Waldman and Associates, the firm that represented Maher Arar, said it would be a normal course of events if the citizenship and immigration minister allowed Black to come back in as a visitor.

Arar, a Canadian citizen, was wrongly labelled as a terrorist and deported by the United States to Syria and was later found by a Canadian inquiry to have been tortured there.

Black was convicted last week by a U.S. criminal court in Chicago of three counts of wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. He surrendered his British passport on Friday and has agreed to stay in the Chicago area pending the judge's decision on whether he'll be sent to jail while his lawyers appeal the jury's decisions.

Black's case would likely become a hot potato should immigration officials receive his application.

"I think the chances are reasonably good that they'll allow him to come in on a visit,'' Waldman said in an interview Monday.

"I would expect they will probably give him what's called a temporary resident's permit, which would allow him to come back in Canada for the visit. That certainly wouldn't surprise me.''

More than 10,000 temporary resident's permits were issued in 2005 to people would normally be inadmissable for various reasons, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Black's decision to give up his citizenship in 2001 means he now has no legal status in Canada, even though he had been living at his mansion in an upscale part of Toronto prior to the start of his trial.

As it stands, the man who once attended Upper Canada College, built an international media empire after buying the small but venerable Sherbrooke Record newspaper and hobnobbed with the Queen could be turned away at the border by immigration officials.

"If he comes into Canada, he'd be subject to deportation,'' Waldman said.

Border officials could exercise their discretion to grant him entry but if he's refused, he'd have to request a temporary resident's permit on humanitarian grounds.

Such a permit would have to be granted by a department official.

Marina Wilson, a spokesperson for the department, said Monday that in 2005, the most recent statistics available, a total of 13,970 temporary resident permits were issued, of which approximately three per cent were a result of instructions given by the Minister.

According to Citizenship and Immigration:

• 7,917 permits (57 per cent) were issued. Many were issued to American nationals seeking admission who were convicted of impaired driving offences several years ago.
• 981 permits (seven per cent) were issued to overcome serious offences (crimes punishable in Canada by 10 years or more in prison).
• Most of these people were seeking entry for employment/business, tourism, and family reasons.
• TRPs issued for criminality only occur when the issuing authority is convinced that the individual concerned will not commit criminal offences and pose a danger to the public.

Waldman said he's had clients with criminal records who were allowed in on the temporary permit before.

Permanent residency problematic

But granting Black a permit for permanent residency would be very unusual and would draw enormous criticism, Waldman said, since many people in similar circumstances have been refused.

"The government's going to be under a lot of pressure,'' Waldman said. "There's going to be a lot of screaming.''

If such a rare event were to occur and Black, while out on bail, were able to live in Canada for a full year on a permanent residence permit, he would then be free to apply to have his Canadian citizenship reinstated, Waldman said.

But the chance of that happening is remote, he said.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada declined to comment specifically on Black's application to resume his citizenship.

But last week, department spokesperson Karen Shadd-Evelyn said that "in general, a person convicted of a serious crime is in admissible to Canada.'' That means "in essence'' that a convicted felon can't even visit for a day.

However, exceptions can be made, according to the department's website.

"A temporary resident permit may be issued to an in admissible person to allow him or her to enter or remain in Canada, if their entry is justified by compelling circumstances and they are not a danger to public health or safety in Canada,'' the website states.

"This permit may be cancelled at any time and the person may be subject to an admissibility hearing or a removal order. A permit is issued for a specified, often short, period _ for example, for a week so that the person can attend a conference. However, it may be issued for up to three years and extended before expiry.''

"Depending on the reason for inadmissibility, a permit holder who has lived continuously in Canada for three to five years under the authority of a valid temporary resident permit may be eligible to apply for permanent resident status.''