Thank you, Chairman.
I am joined here by members of the public service from Citizenship and Immigration Canada who have assisted with the development of this important bill to crack down on crooked immigration consultants and to protect the people who dream of coming to Canada from exploitation by unscrupulous agents.
Mr. Chairman and colleagues, thank you for the invitation to speak to you about Bill C-35. It would of course amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to strengthen the rules governing representatives who charge a fee for immigration advice and representation.
We intend to close loopholes currently exploited by unscrupulous representatives and improve the way in which immigration consultants are regulated.
Taken together, the changes we propose would help protect vulnerable would-be immigrants, help safeguard our immigration system against fraud and abuse, and help ensure an efficient and fair system for those trying to get into Canada through legitimate means.
As we all know, Mr. Chair, immigration fraud happens around the world, and Canada is far from being the only country challenged by it. Some examples of fraudulent activity include bogus marriages, lying to an officer on an application form, and the use of fake documents, including fake marriage certificates, death certificates, travel itineraries and banking statements.
The problem we are tackling is large in scale and international in scope. The value of coming to Canada is frankly so great in the minds of so many that they are often willing to pay sometimes their life savings in cash to unscrupulous representatives, be they lawyers or consultants, with the false promise of obtaining visas to visit or move to Canada.
As you know, I spent a couple of weeks in September meeting with our international partners in Europe, India, China, the Philippines, and Australia to discuss ways we can work together to combat fraud, abuse, and wrongdoing in our immigration system.
Because large numbers of immigration consultants operate beyond our borders, I underscored the need for combined action to thwart fraud and various forms of exploitation by unscrupulous immigration agents and crooked consultants.
After all, the commission of fraud under Canada's immigration program is a crime that threatens the integrity of our immigration system, raises security concerns, wastes tax dollars, is unfair to those who do follow the rules, and adds to the processing time for legitimate applications.
Bill C-35 would amend IRPA so that only members in good standing of a provincial bar association, the Chambre des notaires du Québec or a body designated by the minister may represent or advise for a fee—or offer to do so—at any stage of a proceeding or the application process.
In short, Mr. Chairman, we propose to extend the prohibition on advice and representation to the pre-application period, or that period before an immigration proceeding begins. In so doing, we have created a new criminal offence, which would further deter those persons known as ghost consultants, who are not members of a recognized body.
As we all know, governing bodies are responsible for taking disciplinary action against their members in cases of misconduct. This includes the revocation of membership. A governing body for immigration consultants can, like other governing bodies, investigate the conduct of its members where there's a concern that a member has breached the terms of such membership. Provincial law societies use a similar process to look into complaints concerning their own members.
Protecting the integrity of immigration programs is principally the federal government's role, but because of their responsibility for consumer protection and the regulation of professions, the provinces and territories also play an important role in regulating the conduct of immigration consultants.
In this regard, Quebec's own recent amendments to its regulations recognize as an immigration consultant any member in good standing of the body designated under federal regulations.
Quebec's amendments also demonstrate a willingness to work closely with the federal government in the regulation of immigration consultants.
In addition, provinces raised no objections when we shared the changes to IRPA, proposed under this bill, with them during the course of federal-provincial consultations.
With respect to oversight of the governing body for immigration consultants, there are currently no mechanisms in IRPA that give the minister the authority to oversee the governing body.
The bill would provide the minister with the power, by regulation, to designate a body to govern immigration consultants and to establish measures to enhance the government's oversight of that designated body. Specifically, the designated body would be required to provide the minister with information for the purpose of assisting us and to evaluate whether it governs its members in a manner that is in the public interest so that they provide professional and ethical representation and advice.
Upon further review of the bill, and in response to concerns raised by this committee--and I followed closely the deliberations of the committee and commend and thank you all for your active and very conscientious review--the government is now considering an amendment in this regard. The amendment would provide broader authority to enact regulations requiring the designated governing body to provide information to the government relating to its governance.
The government is also proposing the recognition of paralegals regulated by a law society; I believe that's an issue that's come up in hearings. By recognizing the ability of law societies to govern their membership in the public interest, such recognition could help would-be immigrants.
This bill is a comprehensive proposal to provide protection to vulnerable would-be immigrants by imposing criminal sanctions on unscrupulous representatives, enhancing oversight of the governing body for immigration consultants and improving information-sharing tools.
This is being done without the significant costs associated with the establishment of a governing body through stand-alone legislation, as suggested by some. A similar approach is expected to cost Australia approximately $20 million over four years, just as an example.
At the same time that Bill C-35 moves through the legislative process, a public selection process has been undertaken, as you know, under the existing legislation, to identify a governing body for recognition as the regulator of immigration consultants.
This committee's 2008 and 2009 reports on the issue pointed to a clear lack of public confidence in the body currently governing immigration consultants. This lack of public confidence poses a significant and immediate threat to the immigration program.
Public comments on the selection process were solicited in June and were followed by a call for submissions as published in the Canada Gazette last August. This open and transparent process is being undertaken to ensure that the body governing immigration consultants can effectively regulate its members, thus ensuring public confidence in the integrity of our overall immigration system.
A selection committee composed of officials from my department, other federal government organizations, and external experts will examine all complete submissions against the criteria listed in our published call for submissions. This selection committee will provide the minister with a recommendation as to which organization(s), if any, has or have demonstrated the necessary competencies. Any and all interested candidates are welcome to apply.
This ongoing public selection process, together with the legislative changes proposed in this bill, ensure, we believe, the most efficient and effective approach to strengthening the regulation of immigration consultants now and in the future.
In closing, as I have said before, most immigration representatives working in Canada are legitimate and ethical. But we must act against those who exploit and victimize would-be immigrants by charging them for bad advice, or who help them try to cheat their way into the country, thereby compromising the integrity of Canada's immigration program.
I invite the members of the committee to help us as we work together to crack down on crooked consultants and protect fairness for all applicants for immigration to Canada.
Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.