Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let me start this afternoon by thanking the standing committee for its invitation to the society to present our views on Bill C-50. My name is Imran Qayyum. I'm the vice-chair of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. I'm here today with my colleague Mr. John Ryan, the chair and acting CEO of the society.
The board of directors at the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants supports the government's proposed legislation to streamline Canada's economic-stream immigration processing. Our support is based on the CSIC mandate to protect the public interest and the need to protect the interests of applicants seeking to come to Canada. It is our view that individuals and families waiting in immigration-processing backlogs face uncertainties and a lack of timely resolution that undermines the stability of families and brings the overall Canadian immigration program into disrepute. We need to be mindful that each of the 926,000 candidates currently in the immigration application backlog represents a husband, a wife, a mother, a father, sister, brother, and children—all of whom dream of making Canada their home. We need a system that provides Canada with the needed skills in a timely manner, and not in five to seven years from now.
Given the minister's testimony that the backlog, if not addressed, will balloon to an estimated 1.5 million--with a ten-year processing time--by 2012, the status quo is not acceptable. Of most concern to the society is a pattern of abuse we have identified whereby ghost agents accept money from unsuspecting immigration applicants. These agents promise quick processing of their application, only to disappear with the person's money, leaving the applicant in the breach, unrepresented and vulnerable.
The best traditions of Canadian immigration call for transparency and openness in the immigration processing system. The current backlogs and disproportionate immigration-processing times cause a perception that the system is unfair and not transparent. In our opinion, this situation severely harms the legitimate interests of both the Canadian public and the consumer. Further, the existence of backlogs fosters an environment in which unscrupulous ghost agents may prosper by preying upon applicants left increasingly vulnerable by an inefficient system.
CSIC understands that the policies the minister puts in place to implement the proposed new regulations will be crucial to the success of the process. CSIC expects these new economic-stream selection policies to be developed with great care and in keeping with the principles of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At the same time, the policies must respect the foundation objectives of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including universality, family reunification, and non-discrimination.
We believe the minister should be applauded for efforts to try to tackle this problem. While the proposed regulatory process may not be perfect, it is an initiative for which we are prepared to give the minister the benefit of the doubt and the flexibility she needs to develop fair and transparent policies to eliminate the backlog.
CSIC will be watching the policy development arising from the new regulations to ensure that the minister delivers on her promises, that the interests of consumers of immigration services will be protected, and that immigration applicants are treated fairly.
Thank you.