Citizenship and Immigration committee  Bill C-50 changes that because it says that we're going to take your application. We don't know if we're going to process you, so a year from now, six months, two years, three years, we're going to come back to you and say, “You know what? We don't want you.”

Citizenship and Immigration committee  To elaborate on that point, in a technical briefing the deputy minister indicated how they might use that power. For example, if there were a drastic shortage in any one profession in Canada and one provincial program was taking all of the applicants preferentially, they said the minister would have the right to intervene and stop those individuals from going to that province.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think it's unreasonable to expect all of you and the minister and possibly even those at the deputy minister level to really understand the heart and soul of the immigration act at the level that changes can really be implemented. It's a bit like saying to someone in the medical committee that they might know a lot about medicine, but they're not a doctor and I wouldn't let them operate on me.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd just like to add to that. I think the reason we got to this stage is because there wasn't a consultation. It's not unusual in the course of problem-solving that you come up with some pretty crazy ideas. We've come up with fairly crazy ideas on how to solve these problems in the past, and so has the ministry.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. Thank you for your time.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, committee members, and distinguished colleagues. Recently the minister made some very welcome changes to the after-graduation student work permit program by exempting students from having to find an employer and by extending the work permit to three years.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd liken it to saying, if you want to go from Vancouver to Ottawa, you should have a railroad. It's an enabling matter, because it then says that individuals within Canada, for instance, who are not regulated and who practise in those areas are actually violating the Immigration Act and the RCMP could be involved.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In fact, that was there originally.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm not an authority on statutory law and the difference between law and regulation. I can't answer that question. But would I like to see something more, or would we benefit from something more? The answer is yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Merci de votre question. As I'm sure you know, there are several different ways of consulting with stakeholders. In the process of forming CSIC, I assume the committee or the ministry at the time decided regulation was a fairly complex issue, so they appointed a panel of industry experts.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have approximately 670 members.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and committee members. I just hope that familiarity doesn't breed contempt. Our remarks and our presentation today will actually be very brief. We would like to leave lots of time for questions. I'd also like to apologize in advance for the simple nature of the comments I'm about to make.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  But there are different ways to solve those problems, and in this case, because there was no consultation except—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, absolutely. Problems are always there to be solved, not endured, and that's your job.