Official Languages committee  These members are appointed by the Governor in Council. Yes, we indicate…

Official Languages committee  I know, but our members need to stay in Toronto.

Official Languages committee  In 2006, in Toronto, only 10 people asked that the Immigration Appeal Division hear their case in French; in 2007, only 13; in 2008, there were 17, and in 2009, 17. There have been 15 so far this year.

Official Languages committee  No, they're for the Immigration Appeal Division.

Official Languages committee  In the Immigration Section, there are three bilingual individuals, and they are public servants. There are bilingual employees who are already part of the public service. Don't forget that, right now, the people in the Immigration Appeal Division and the Refugee Protection Division are from outside the public service, whereas the people in the Immigration Division are career public servants.

Official Languages committee  In the case of the Immigration Division, it is, because these people are public servants. In the case of the Immigration Appeal Division and the Refugee Protection Division, it is not, because these people are appointed by order in council. There is no way of designating positions as bilingual or not.

Official Languages committee  I am aware of the situation, yes.

Official Languages committee  I'm not aware of the specifics. As you may be aware, the Public Service Commission conducted an audit on the IRB and they had a number of files where they had some concerns.

Official Languages committee  In terms of ones where there were language concerns, I'm aware of the specifics of one instance—it happened here in the national capital region—where we hired an individual from another federal organization, but not an organization that's part of the core public service. The individual was rated bilingual at that institution and was offered a job at the IRB on the basis that he or she—I'm not sure if it was a man or woman, quite frankly—met the language requirements.

Official Languages committee  I'll let our DG of HR talk about that.

Official Languages committee  A second-language evaluation in the public service is good for five years, I believe.

Official Languages committee  Yes, unless exempt. This was the problem in this particular case. The individual had language exam results, but they were not Public Service Commission language results. They were from the other federal employer. There was confusion--there shouldn't have been, because the HR community should know this--around whether or not those results were valid.

Official Languages committee  I can commit to you that we have procedures in place that include, at the moment, 100% verification by an independent individual within the HR group who has not been involved in the staffing profile to that point. We currently have 100% checking of everything, of every single staffing action that we're doing.

Official Languages committee  No.

Official Languages committee  No.