We have a very diverse set of goals that the immigration act is attempting to achieve, and it may not be possible to achieve everything that it wants to achieve.
I agree that at some point someone's going to have to step back and see if we are meeting the objectives of the immigration policy that are in the preamble to the immigration act. If you read the preamble, it's intended to maintain Canada's multicultural makeup and to meet the demands of Canadian society.
I agree that we could simplify it; if we simplify it, would that solve the problem? I work with many ethnic groups, primarily in Manitoba, and I've always taken the position that there's a responsibility on the communities themselves. The communities and community leaders know who are operating properly in their community and who are not. In other words, there has to be a mechanism for them to come to the table. Government can only do so much. Regulators can only do so much. The responsibility to deal with this issue has to be shared, and those communities that are mature and have access and availability to help for recent immigrants or people like temporary foreign workers can solve some of these problems.
But I think your point is well taken. If we change the immigration act and make the requirements a little more transparent, would that eliminate consultants? Well, I don't know whether it would. My hunch is that it wouldn't, but at least if the system were less complicated and processed in a faster way, it might eliminate some of those operators who....You have to be remember that an unscrupulous immigration consultant likes delay, because he takes his money today and he knows there won't be an answer for two to three years. Delay benefits him, because he's not worried about what happens at the end; he's worried about the short term.