I'd like to state that the CSIC sitcom has to come to an abrupt end. The government made a huge error in supporting CSIC and implementing it to begin with. The only way out is to stop digging and start all over again.
CSIC is an unaccountable organization. It conducts itself in an arbitrary, unconscionable manner. It makes up the rules as it goes along. As well, it is not an organization that protects the public. I'll give you some examples, very quickly.
Right from the beginning, everyone who was an immigration practitioner should have been grandfathered immediately, then CSIC, as the governing body, could have governed the membership accordingly. It could have provided updates and education as we went along. Then they could be a regulatory body and protect the public by making these educational programs and updates available.
Now we get to the flawed exam, which was not tested properly. The people who put forth the questions were unqualified. There were many correct answers for the questions because of all the unqualified people who put them forth. Therefore, if you wrote the exam at the beginning, you passed, because there was nothing to compare it to. If you wrote it at the end, all the comparisons were flawed, because the whole process was flawed from the beginning.
The fact that people who could not speak English did pass to the set standard and did pass the flawed exam but were not able to work as immigration consultants I find unconscionable. I ask myself, where is the procedural fairness here? Where is fairness here to begin with? There is no natural justice implicated here, and there is a complete disregard for Canadian core values. No one knows what these things are at CSIC whatsoever.
The simple solution would be to say yes, you can practise. You passed the flawed exam, now please take an English course during the evening, and sooner or later you're going to improve your English, and that's the end of it. We're not going to kick you out and throw you to the curb in complete disregard, as CSIC has done.
This is why we say that they conduct themselves in an arbitrary, unconscionable manner. This is why we say that they do not protect the public. Because of this, and because of the now famous Toronto Star reports about immigration consultants from CSIC being caught doing things they should not be doing--I can't read everything, because I don't have the time here--complaints have been put forth, and CSIC will not act on complaints that have been put forth.
Personally, I put in a complaint to the chair. My complaint was acknowledged, but nothing was done about it whatsoever. Also, when I was a transitional member, I ran across some personal hardship. I could not pay my fees. I asked for rule 10.5.c to be implemented, which allows for hardship and staggered payments. They would not implement it. No reasons were given; they just refused to implement it. They said to pay my fees or I couldn't work.
Then out of nowhere, I was told to write the English exam so I could qualify for the entrance exam. That was more money coming out of nowhere. They won't let me work, but then they want my money. I was finally approved, after a long process and after being accused of not writing the English exam with permission. And I had to pay my fees before the passing mark would be implemented. The exam was just a cash grab anyway, because you had so many chances after that to write the exam, one after another after another, all with different names, and all just wanting your money.
If there's any problem with immigration consultants, it stems from CSIC not being able to do its job, because the board members are unqualified to begin with, and they conduct themselves in an arbitrary, unconscionable manner.
As you said at the beginning, the CSIC sitcom has to come to an end and the government has to start all over again.
Thank you very much.