Official Languages committee  Just to explain, I want to go back to the first point and address the second one at the same time. If, for example, as you suggest, we started all the procedures in French, that would go against the charter and the Official Languages Act. It is up to the subject to choose the language of proceedings and that is done in accordance with our rules.

Official Languages committee  It is not done automatically in English.

Official Languages committee  Just to be clear, I think you are talking about Mr. Bolanos Blanco's case that went to the Federal Court. You are right, there was a change in the language of proceedings. The commissioner granted the change in the language of proceedings.

Official Languages committee  Yes, yes. You are right, he refused the request of Mr. Bolanos Blanco's lawyer to translate once again all the documents that had already been presented, when the hearing was conducted in English. Just to draw your attention to the legal issue at stake, I should add that neither the charter nor the Official Languages Act deals with documentary evidence, as everyone here knows.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't speak to PRA decisions, but my understanding of IRPA is that vacation and cessation are applications one can bring to the IRB—and I'll only speak to the IRB because I don't want to go down the PRA path—by the minister on those decisions. Those, of course, do occur.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't know the case you're speaking about. A cessation application is generally based on changes in conditions in the country, and so on. In a vacation application there must be a misrepresentation of some kind. A vacation application is not an application to debate the protection decision on the merits.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The other thing the minister can do in the context of the refugee protection division is intervene to exclude. So they can actually come forward as a party in that proceeding to say that the person should not be granted refugee status. All of that is provided for under the legislation.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There are a couple of ways in which it helps. Just before I get to crooked or unauthorized representatives, there can be incompetent authorized representatives. One of the things that proposed new paragraph 150.1(1)(c) of this crooked consultants act will allow us to do is to make complaints where we perceive there are clearly incompetent counsel or misconduct in proceedings before the board.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't know that there are many practices that would change beyond what I've described there. One of the things we do now, and we will continue to do, is that we also have a jurisdiction that is recognized by the courts to control our own proceedings and preserve the integrity of the proceedings.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Actually, you raise a good point. To the extent that we learn about an infraction or misconduct in our proceedings--and now this misconduct has been extended to that pre-application and pre-proceedings phase--the IRB will be passing on that information to the appropriate authorities.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Other than providing information on those sorts of infractions, our main remedy in dealing with these people is to either pass the information about infractions to the authorities, or in the case of unauthorized paid representatives, bar them from appearing before the board. As I mentioned earlier, I think that bumping up to a rule of our policy is extremely important.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think it's probably a better question addressed to CIC. Under this crooked consultants act, to the extent the reserved job offer is connected to getting a work visa to Canada, I think you might want to ask the Department of Justice and CIC, because it may fall under this new legislation.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a question you would have to ask—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I personally don't.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The IRB knows.