Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the committee,
ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to thank you for inviting me to appear before you today, along with my newly minted and esteemed colleagues.
I am honoured to accompany the judges appearing today, and I am certain that you will agree that they bring valuable experience and assets to our complement of citizenship judges.
This occasion also provides me with a very timely opportunity to discuss the mandate of the Citizenship Commission and the role of our citizenship judges.
The Citizenship Commission is an administrative tribunal within Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Commission is comprised of all citizenship judges working across Canada. The mandate of citizenship judges is set out in the Citizenship Act and regulations.
The commission is responsible for the following: deciding whether citizenship applicants meet the requirement of the Citizenship Act and the citizenship regulations for all cases; administering the oath of citizenship and stressing the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship to new citizens; working to maintain the integrity of the citizenship process; and promoting citizenship by working with school boards, service clubs, multicultural groups, and community organizations.
There is no legislative provision in the Citizenship Act for the creation of the so-called Citizenship Commission. Don't try to find it; you will not find it anywhere.
The Citizenship Commission is an administrative body for citizenship judges or for the position of senior citizenship judge. In comparison, the Immigration and Refugee Board, the IRB, is a legislative body as described in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, IRPA. The position of chairperson of the board is also described.
As indicated above, the mandate of the commission and the duties of the senior citizenship judge have been assigned by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to section 26 of the Citizenship Act.
The duties of the senior judge are subject to policy direction and include the following: promoting consistency and providing functional guidance to other citizenship judges on the interpretation and application of the Citizenship Act; facilitating the exchange of information and being a liaison between judges, the CIC, and other government departments on issues of concern to judges and the CIC; managing and responding to complaints regarding citizenship judges, and if necessary, being a liaison with the Privy Council Office and the minister regarding complaint resolution; acting as a spokesperson for the commission and managing the administrative and professional services that the commission provides for citizenship judges; making recommendations and providing advice, upon request, to the minister on issues of concern to the minister or to the citizenship judges; and managing the operation of the senior judge's office and staff.
What role do citizenship judges play? Citizenship judges are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister to serve either on a full-time or part-time basis, generally for a period of no more than three years.
Because they are appointed by the Governor in Council, judges enjoy the independence needed to carry out their decision-making duties without any external influence.
The Citizenship Act provides four types of citizenship application. There is a grant of citizenship, according to section 5(1); retentions, under section 8; renunciations, under section 9(1); and resumption, under section 11(1). Most of these applications are decided by a judge on the basis of a file review. However, when a judge finds that more information is required to make a decision, the applicant is invited to attend a hearing before that judge.
To carry out their quasi-judicial responsibilities, citizenship judges need to know the principles of administrative law and natural justice, the Citizenship Act and its regulations, relevant case law as well as certain components of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Criminal Code.
Newly appointed citizenship judges follow a comprehensive training program that provides them with the knowledge and skills they require to perform their duties. Remember that any Canadian citizen can be a citizenship judge; it is not a domain that is reserved for lawyers or members of the legal profession. After that program, judges participate in ongoing training activities to further develop their skills.
There are presently 28 judges, including the senior citizenship judge. There 19 full-time judges and nine part-time judges, and a total of nine vacancies. Five are full-time and four are part-time. Currently, there are vacancies in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and the Atlantic region.
Our complement of judges has achieved both gender and ethnicity representation. For example, our current 16 male and 12 female judges represent as many as 13 ethnic communities.
The screening process for citizenship judges plays a critically important role in terms of ensuring that the Commission acquires a full complement of judges. This process is constantly evolving. The objective is to ensure an adequate supply of skilled, qualified candidates in regions in need of judges.
At an administrative level, the commission works with the minister to fully implement a screening process. This involves adopting new assessment tools that target the skills and abilities outlined in a new competency profile for the position, which was distributed to the members of this committee. The commission also works with the minister's office and the Privy Council to obtain the Prime Minister's approval of the screening process.
The commission also provides extensive classroom training for new citizenship judges. The effectiveness of the training program is evaluated on an ongoing basis, and adjustments are made as required.
The commission would also like to develop what we call a feedback program designed to help determine the professional development needs of the Citizenship Commission. The program would provide individual judges with specific feedback from applicants about the hearings they conduct and the ceremonies at which they preside. The commission will receive an aggregate summary of the feedback, and this information will then be incorporated into the professional development training for judges. Discussing this feedback with a trusted mentor will allow individual judges to consider new ways of approaching their work. The judge will then be able to seek individual training or skills development opportunities at their own discretion as a result of this process.
The implementation of the commission's feedback program on judges' performances was and remains dependent upon the GCMS's capacity, or the departmental capacity, to provide the needed data and ministerial approval of the appropriate level of funding.
Next I will discuss challenges. The definitive mission of the commission remains to balance efficiency and effectiveness to ensure that the citizenship process runs smoothly and works for the benefit of Canada. Our challenge remains to fulfill our mandate and undertake new initiatives required by the department within the context of very limited resources. The annual budget of the Citizenship Commission is approximately $2.1 million in A-base funding.
Appointments must be made and mandates renewed quickly to ensure that the citizenship acquisition process runs at optimum efficiency across the country.
In spite of the many challenges and two changes in government, citizenship judges have refocused their efforts on improving and applying the provisions of the current Citizenship Act. The citizenship acquisition process has encountered problems and the situation has been made worse by the ever-growing workload.
The Citizenship Commission has always been, and will continue to be, concerned about ensuring that judges have the means to make enlightened, fair and timely decisions that are consistent with the act. This is essential in order for applicants to be treated fairly everywhere in Canada.
Our top priority for 2006-2007 is to acquire a full complement of 37 citizenship judges.
Thank you.