Thank you very much.
It's a pleasure to be here again before the committee and to welcome more new faces than at any other time I've had the pleasure to present. Welcome to everyone.
We also prepared a detailed brief and submitted it, but I believe it's in the process of being translated.
I'd like to make some general comments on the legislation. Then I'll turn it over to my associate to make some specific recommendations on one of the particular items in the legislation, and certainly allow as many questions as possible.
Just for the record, I'll say to everybody, “That's a great question, thank you for your question”, so we don't have to repeat that. We all went to the Bill Clinton school of political answers.
The Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants has worked for and supported the concept of the regulation of immigration consultants for 25 years. That is why CAPIC supports the intent and the main thrust of this bill. It is not only in the interest of consumers and the public to regulate immigration consultants, but in the interest of immigration consultants themselves.
Like many professionals, we hold ourselves to very high standards. We want to see these standards officially sanctioned and subjected to strong and enforceable regulation. Bill C-35 grapples with the very complex issue of ghost agents. The exploitation of vulnerable migrants by unscrupulous agents and unqualified intermediaries is a major global problem, part of a criminal industry worth billions of dollars. It causes incalculable harm to victims and their families. CAPIC has a number of recommendations concerning the enforcement, control, and prosecution of ghost agents.
Bill C-35 also addresses the major shortcomings identified by the standing committee in two separate reports in 2008 and 2009 on the way the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants was constituted in the first place. They recognized that the absence of any statute governing CSIC simply makes it impossible for the society to enforce its rules on non-members, and impossible for the minister and CIC to hold the society accountable or influence the society’s internal functioning. They also acknowledged the many legitimate complaints of CSIC members about CSIC's governance.
You recommended that a statutory body be established to replace CSIC. While CAPIC appreciates the degree of progress represented by Bill C-35 in making certain activities a violation of the Immigration Act--and we credit the department's ingenuity in bringing it forward in that manner--we recommend that the option of a statutory body be kept open for the future.
CAPIC has led the fight to resolve the issues of bad consultants and a poorly functioning regulator, and has continued to make recommendations for positive changes. Currently we are leading a group of concerned practitioners in preparing a bid to set up a new body, which we are calling “The Better Regulator.”
We have learned from the mistakes made in the past and from six years of imperfect regulation. We are doing this in an open and transparent manner, as volunteers, and we will ensure that our proposal is very clear on accountability and effectiveness.
Our detailed report makes several recommendations that we hope you will consider seriously, including specific recommendations that deal with third-party service providers. My colleague will explain those recommendations shortly, but I want to bring one more issue to the table first, and that is the issue of respect.
Hard-working, ethical consultants who ably assist tens of thousands of newcomers to come to Canada deserve the respect of the department and the government, as well as the respect of the general public. They choose every day to follow the rules, to serve the interests of their clients, and to forgo the fast buck and easy money that lures the unscrupulous. They do not need special recognition, but they do deserve the same respect accorded to all hard-working Canadians, be they auto workers, teachers, politicians, or millions of others.
Tackling the problem of ghost agents requires a better working relationship between all stakeholders. To be coherent, the policies that will flow from Bill C-35 must also recognize the role that authorized representatives play in support of legal immigration. It is self-defeating to deplore the ghost agent phenomenon on the one hand, while discouraging the use of authorized representatives on the other, as CIC does with its website messages. The role of authorized representatives must be validated, not denigrated; otherwise, what’s the point of it all?
Finally, as an additional sign of respect, and in agreement with my colleague who spoke earlier—thank you for stealing my thunder--we ask that you consider changing the title of this act. For hard-working, ethical consultants, it will be very difficult to accept the fact that for years to come they will be regulated by an act that specifically refers to everything they are not. The alliteration is appreciated, but the perceived disrespect is not.
Thank you.
I'd like to turn this over to my colleague, Mr. Morson.