Good afternoon, Mrs. Taub.
Good afternoon, sir.
I am pleased to see you before this committee.
First of all, I want to tell you that I come from a country that saw many of its citizens come here as refugees. I came from Vietnam and I can tell you that this Board is very important. Even though the situations may not be comparable, many American citizens as well as Vietnamese citizens came here because this legislation existed. I did not come to Canada as a refugee but I came here during the same period.
Some of your statements fill me with anger. You systematically condemn all claimants in saying that they abuse our system. However, did I not hear you say that some of the people who call you are referred by consultants? We know that consultants are not regulated at this time. Some fly-by-night consultants give very bad advice to illegitimate refugee claimants. I would have liked to see this profession regulated in this Bill.
Yesterday, we heard the minister say that he intends to do that but later on. You said that many claimants try to abuse the present system. Do you not believe that the fact that the Minister did not regulate the profession at this time, like the legal profession... By the way, I believe that people who call you are protected by the fact that your profession is strongly regulated.
Some say that the system is clogged, but that is not due only to false claimants. It is also due to fly-by-night consultants advising illegitimate claimants to try and abuse the system.