Thank you for your very sensible comment and question. I understand that this has been the subject of the testimony and debate here.
I can assure you that when I was first presented with options for better regulation of the sector by the department, we looked at all options, including this model of a so-called statutory body, analogous, for example, to the law societies. We didn't discount anything. We are looking for the most effective and practical form of regulation. I think we're all agreed on that.
There are several reasons why we decided not to proceed with that model. Firstly, it would take a long time to put it in place, and we need a sound regulator in place following the selection process in the very near future. It would be very expensive, and that expense would work down to the public.
I think it's a false analogy to compare it to the law societies. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lawyers. The law societies have existed for a century or longer. They have a well-developed body of expertise in governance. None of those things can be said of the consultant industry.
There are currently 1,600 members of CSIC. They typically don't have the same level of professional education as lawyers. There's not the same body of expertise. Basically, the government, funded by tax dollars, would have to be there for the first several years, setting up such an institution. One could argue that there would be certain advantages, but I think the costs outweigh the advantages.
I believe that the model we are proposing would allow, for example, for investigations under the amendments recently adopted by Parliament under the Not-for-profit Corporations Act. It would allow for complaints from members to be considered. So whatever marginal advantage could be gained by going to a statutory body would be significantly outweighed by the cost and the expense
Frankly, I'm not sure that we're talking about an industry that has the capacity to support an organization of that magnitude. When we look at the other professional bodies created by provincial statute, they have decades of experience, large memberships, and large revenue streams. None of those things can be said about the consultant industry.