Good morning. My name is Katarina Onuschak, and I am here as an individual. I'm a full member of CSIC and I'm also co-chair of the education committee of CAPIC.
I have prepared an entire speech, but I wish I could just repeat what Joel Hechter said. It speaks for all of us, for those consultants who wanted the regulation, who are trying to comply with rules and procedures that we either don't understand or we simply don't receive. In doing this, we have no way of protecting the public. As Anita was saying, most of the work for us or for lawyers is done before the application is filed. That's when we advise clients. That's when we plan strategy. That's when we tell the client what they need to go through the process. And these services are not regulated. The moment the application is sent, we are sitting and waiting for CSIC to come back, and we react to whatever they have to say.
But that doesn't mean the public is protected. On the contrary, if I don't want to be regulated, I can do basically what I'm doing now for no fee, no hassle, no danger of a heart attack, no responsibility. So I completely agree with Joel. We need regulation. We need a statute. We need a regulator that is responsible and accountable to someone. Right now the CSIC board of directors is not accountable to anyone, not to its members and not to the government. Nobody wants to touch it.
Members tried for years to get some changes made, and we were not able. Our motions for our first AGM were denied on technicalities. We have no way of calling for a special meeting to at least let our board of directors hear what we have to say. We have no remedy.
I came here to talk about education. I'm very proud that I have been instrumental in the education of consultants for years, before CSIC and before CAPIC. As the CAPIC co-chair of the education committee, I know what it takes to educate people. I'm not saying we are all educated, and I'm not saying that all consultants want to be educated, but most of us do. I think we are doing a pretty good job.
We have to complete 40 CPD points--continuing professional development points--in two years. Fifteen points are mandatory, which was mandated by our board of directors. The other 25 points can be obtained through various programs by attending courses, by attending events organized by other institutions.
For example, there is the CBA conference on immigration law, which is held every year. In 2006 and 2007 the conference was the highlight of the education program for lawyers and for consultants, and it was appropriately awarded 15 points. This year it was awarded only 10 points.
Why am I mentioning it? CSIC incorporated the Canadian Migration Institute, which is a for-profit organization that is now providing voluntary CPD points to immigration consultants. The board of directors of this new for-profit corporation is the same as the board of directors of CSIC, so basically they are applying for approval of a program, and then they approved their own two-day program, which is pretty much the same length as the CBA conference, and they awarded themselves 20 points.
There are so many issues, and I am sure you heard from my colleagues in Vancouver or in Calgary. I don't want to go into all the details. I just want to say that we want to be regulated. We want the rules, but we want the rules to be clear, and we want to know that if we comply with all the rules, we have the right to do what we do. If I don't want to be regulated, I simply won't be allowed to work.
Today I am a member. Some people consider me foolish. I have no rights. They can do what I do without the hassle.
Thank you.