Exactly.
When a visitor visa is refused, those applicants who have the wherewithal can hire lawyers and seek judicial review of the negative decision by the Federal Court. For the vast majority of the applicants, however, the court process is simply too costly and too complicated, and it takes too much time to complete.
That's why we would very much welcome an appeal process for a visitor visa that is easy to access and does not carry a high processing fee. While it may be cost-prohibitive to grant the right to appeal to all applicants, it would not be unreasonable, in my view, to grant the right to appeal to those applicants who are coming here to visit family members. To be meaningful, however, the appeal must be determined by an independent body, such as the Immigration and Refugee board or something like it, and it must be heard in a timely fashion.
Finally, on the last question, as I'm not an expert on the systems in other countries, I did a search recently on the U.K., U.S.A., Australian, and New Zealand systems. They are all over the place, although some countries have a review system for refused visitor visa applications. In any event, I would submit that we should only borrow from these other countries if their policies are consistent with Canadian principles and values concerning immigration policy, including the principle of family reunification.
In conclusion, I would respectfully submit that if Canada wants to continue to project an image as an open and welcoming country, then our visitor visa policy should also be open and fair to all people, so that regardless of their background, country of origin, or income level they will have an equal chance of coming to visit Canada.
Thank you.