I think that's a really good point because it gives credibility to our organization.
I've done a lot of presentations. I actually did two presentations last year to Immigration and Refugee Board members in Toronto; I've been on probably 40 cases as an expert witness, and we have been successful with all of those.
I have been told by refugee board members that thousands of Falun Gong claimants come in to try to gain refugee status. Last year the Falun Dafa Association had a maximum of 40 cases.
Our mandate is not to actively seek those who we feel are true or false claimants, but to actively protect those who we feel are true Falun Gong practitioners who come to us for support.
The IRB has repeatedly accepted the Falun Dafa Association's testimony as credible and as an expert witness. We are the only organization that again, as I said, is within the Falun Gong community on a daily basis.
I myself have been approached by lawyers asking me to come to help them with refugee cases, and I say no. Mr. Joel Laten, my lawyer, whom we use in Toronto and whom we trust very much as a very good supporter for Falun Gong practitioners, told me he could make over $150,000 a year just by Falun Gong claims if he wanted to.
It's a huge business, and we don't want to get involved. We sent a letter to the IRB asking for another hearing because we have heard other organizations are charging money for letters to claimants, saying, "We will give you a letter saying you're a Falun Gong practitioner, but you have to give us $300." As soon as we heard that, we wanted to stop that. This is not what this is about, so we wanted to make sure the IRB understands the Falun Dafa Association is the only authorized organization with the expertise to verify true practitioners.