Thank you for the question.
In fact, as I mentioned in my presentation, UNHCR's role is enshrined in Canadian law and legislation. The 1951 Convention itself also gives the UNHCR supervisory duties and responsibilities over how states implement their international obligations.
In the case of Canada, we actually have staff in Montreal and Toronto who work out of the IRB building. They take the elevator down to the hearing rooms on a daily basis; our staff sit in on IRB hearings. In the course of any given year we will observe and analyze, in person, 100 or 200 cases, if not more. We will do spot checks, if you will, based on what type of case is being considered, what type of nationality, what the complexities are, etc. We will be present in person at all major locations in Canada, particularly in the main areas--Montreal and Toronto--but also in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Halifax, to observe these hearings in person. We will then share our observations as to what their strengths and weaknesses might be with the IRB on a regular basis.
I can give you statistics afterwards--I don't have those statistics with me--but we look at a good cross-section of refugee claims; we observe and monitor them in person while they are being conducted, and we've been doing this for more than 15 or 16 years, from the very beginning, since the IRB was established in the late 1980s.