It is very easy to use the system to prolong your stay in Canada; it's as simple as that. You can make a refugee claim--you can be a diplomat, an international student, or a visitor--if you don't want to go back or you can't renew your visa. These are instances of clients who have come to see me and asked, “What if I make a refugee claim? Can I stay then?” That's the reputation Canada has.
We have the highest acceptance rate, hovering around 50%, whereas the European Union averages about 12%. Is it that all the countries in the European Union are stupid, or are we so exceptionally smart that we know better? It's too easy. The acceptance rates are the highest, and it's known worldwide. We have to really reform the system. Basically some of the comments I heard were in effect about trying to reform the system.
I have to bring this back to 2002, when it was supposed to be implemented with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. For some reason the Liberal government said they didn't want to implement it. They had time. They could have implemented it in 2002 and they chose not to, because they felt it was another layer of appeal. So it's not just this current government that says it's another layer of appeal.
If you want to have something like the RAD, then you have to reform the entire system.
Just one correction: the Federal Court can overturn a case for patently unreasonable findings of fact. I have had a couple of cases overturned and sent back because of that.
What we're looking at today is implementing the RAD as it was conceived in 2002. We're not looking at implementing the RAD with all these changes--getting rid of the PRA, appointing different people, and improving the qualifications of board members. We're looking at 2002 as it is in the law now. That's the only thing that should be considered: add RAD and keep everything else. That is what is under consideration, not these other changes that everybody is suggesting.