Thank you, Chair. We are very pleased to be here today to discuss our chapter on the Governor in Council appointments process.
As you mentioned, I am joined at the table by Anne Marie Smith, principal, and Jean Goulet, director, who are responsible for this audit. Our audit examined the process used to make Governor in Council, or GIC, appointments to crown corporations, small federal entities, and, of most interest to this committee, the Immigration and Refugee Board.
The Immigration and Refugee Board, or the IRB, is a case study of the seriousness of issues that can develop as a result of insufficient attention paid to appointments. High vacancy rates and high turnover of board members have significantly contributed to increased delays in rendering decisions and a large backlog of unprocessed cases. The result is uncertainty for claimants and significant cost to social programs.
Overall, the audit found there was unsatisfactory progress since our previous audits. Issues related to the IRB were first raised as long ago as 1997. At that time, we had serious concerns about the high turnover among board members and delays in making appointments, which resulted in a high number of vacant positions. While we noted some improvement in our 2001 follow-up report, turnover and vacancy rates observed in this audit were higher than those in 1997. As of September 20, 2008, there were about 10,000 unresolved appeals and more than 50,000 unprocessed refugee claims.
Our audit found there was a well-defined process in place for recommending members for appointment to the IRB, which has significantly evolved since 2004. The process now involves an initial screening of candidates, suitability screening by a panel of senior-level IRB officials and external experts called the selection advisory board, a written test with a predetermined passing mark, and an interview by the selection advisory board. Following reference checks, recommended candidates are added to a list presented by the IRB chairperson to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for consideration in recommending appointments to the Governor in Council. The IRB chairperson also makes recommendations to the minister on reappointments of members whose terms are coming to an end, based on an assessment of their performance.
Following the changes made to improve the appointment process over the last four years, we expected that appointments would be made in a timely manner and that the Immigration and Refugee Board would be staffed with the number of decision-makers it required to achieve its mandate. However, at March 31, 2008, only 106 positions of a total approved complement of 164 positions were occupied—a vacancy rate of 35%. As of September 20, 2008, the IRB had a 23% vacancy rate.
Our audit also found that incumbent members were not treated respectfully when their appointments were due for renewal. Decisions on reappointment were not made or communicated in a timely manner—with members often notified only a short time prior to their terms' expiry and many after their terms expired. In addition, the Immigration and Refugee Board, which must arrange office space, case workloads and training for new members, is not always informed of the start date of new members. We are concerned that the case inventory will likely have grown since we completed our audit. The committee may wish to ask the board for information on the current status of the backlog.
As a final note, the government's response to our recommendations in the chapter gives little indication of the actions it intends to take to address the concerns that we raised. Your committee may wish to explore this further, including whether the government has developed any action plans, timelines or other strategies to deal with the inventory of unresolved cases on a timely basis, taking into account the current and projected number of new cases.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions that committee members may have.