Thank you for your question. I think you've hit the nail on the head. I think there are things we can do to address the exact problem you're talking about. We have written CIC, and we've had a number of meetings with Citizenship and Immigration Canada about this.
Simple consistency of messaging on the international websites--the DFAIT websites and the CIC websites--is an example. Let's use the example of Beijing. If you go to the Beijing website, to the mission, and you look at what's available in English, it links back to the main CIC website in Canada. Of course, most people get their information in Mandarin. Would it surprise the committee to know that there is absolutely no information in Mandarin available to the consumer about authorized representatives and the protection measures that the Government of Canada has put in place? There is nothing, nada, not even a mention. That means that you have a whole industry that has been able to carry on despite the rules being changed here by Parliament and the Governor in Council in 2004.
There are other examples. If you look at other websites, you will see similar messaging.
So I think the government, in a very cost-effective way, could simply streamline its messaging, inform consumers at the front end, and empower consumers to make the choice when they're deciding if they're going to hire someone. I think that's our obligation. We can do that through the kits and we can do that through the websites. So I think there are steps we can take.
There is a limit to our legal ability to get at offshore agents. Under the model, the immigration officers overseas are essentially administrative gatekeepers who are there to see whether an application filed is from people who are authorized representatives: lawyers, consultants, or Chambre des notaires. I think there is still a need to maintain that administrative gatekeeper role, but I think we could go miles by giving proper information to the people who are actually the consumers, the vulnerable consumers making a choice at the front side of this equation, rather than by putting a lot of our money into enforcement.