CBC Q & A: Windsor lawyer on Ben Johnson's legal consequences

Former Windsor Spitfire Ben Johnson could be looking at being banned from Canada for life.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Johnson to three years in prison and 20 years on the sex offender registry in Ontario.

Windsor citizenship and immigration lawyer Eddie Kadri with the Hulka Porter Immigration and Family Law Firm says after Johnson is done serving his prison term, he'll be removed from Canada and sent back to the United States. Johnson was born in Michigan, which is also where he lived.

Here's edited excerpts from the interview:

What will happen to Johnson once he's released from jail?

"He will be inadmissible to Canada by virtue of his conviction and if he attempts to return here, we will know that because he was convicted in Canada of an offence. If he has any conviction in the United States we too will also known that based on information sharing. But generally the process for him to return will be very difficult because he will be barred on serious criminality grounds and the process to return after that is very difficult."

How does the process work for Johnson to gain entry in Canada?

"Starting with the presumption that he's inadmissible for serious criminality grounds, the process of coming back is very difficult. The only way he could come back, he would have to obtain what's called a temporary resident permit, which is essentially like a waiver. You would have to argue that there's a need for him to enter Canada that overrides safety and security of the public by keeping people out who have criminal conviction histories."

Under what circumstances in Johnson likely to return to Canada?

"If he serves three years, leaves Canada and then calls me up and says 'hey I want to come back. I want to go play hockey at this tournament.' I would say to him, it's not going to happen. Now if he had an aunt in Canada who died and there was a funeral and it was two days and he wanted to come back for that. I'd say you have a decent chance because we have a very compassionate nature as Canadians. A death in the family and a funeral, it's a life event. We would probably let him in for the two days that he had the funeral. We'd probably put conditions on his stay, but he would have to report and leave in two days."

How will Johnson be affected in the U.S. by being on a sex offender registry in Canada?

"He's an American citizen. It won't really have an affect on him in terms of his right to return to his country. His right is by citizenship, so the U.S. will take him back without any issues."

CBC News contacted Ben Johnson's appeal lawyer James Lockyner in Toronto.
He would only say that he expects to file an appeal in the next few days and that appeal will be heard in Toronto.
Lockyer is also the founding director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.