Thank you.
I just want to say that I hadn't discussed this with Mr. Sharma, but you'll be surprised to hear that our positions are very similar. I'm going to build on what Mr. Sharma just told you as I agree completely with him.
The problem with the immigrant consultant situation is that there's a perception that the regulatory body, the ICCRC, has not done enough to properly protect the public. There are still many instances of abuse, and there are many examples of incompetent representatives. That applies to processing, but much more so to the examples Mr. Sharma gave of people who appear before the board.
It's important to note, as Mr. Sharma did, that it's not only a problem with consultants. There are incompetent lawyers. There were three lawyers in Ontario who have been recently disciplined due to incompetent representation of hundreds of Roma refugee claimants. I was an expert witness on two of the three cases, so I'm well aware of the problem and the scope of the incompetence. Two of the lawyers received six-month suspensions and one was disbarred. This to say that the problem of incompetence is not one that's restricted to consultants.
Having said that, I agree with Mr. Sharma. A lawyer, before he is licensed, has to get an undergraduate degree, three years of law school, 10 months to one year of articling, and then pass a professional competence exam. It's far different from the 320 hours that you need to do before you can apply to write the consultant's exam.
I agree again with Mr. Sharma. The CBA recommends doing away with consultants. I have a broader perspective than Mr. Sharma, having been practising for close to 40 years. Before consultants were regulated, they existed, and if you tried to stop regulating, they will continue to exist. I think, given the choice between regulating and not, we're far better off regulating, but we have to regulate better.
How do we regulate better? In order to improve the regulations—and, again, I'm picking up on what Mr. Sharma said—the government must do more. The government has the power, in the regulations, to set proper minimum standards in place to ensure that anyone who is licensed as a consultant meets minimum standards of education.
I'm not going to tell you today what I think those would be, but I agree that they have to be far more than the 320 hours, especially if people are going to represent people at the Immigration and Refugee Board. Minimum standards of study have to be in place, followed by a period of practicum. A lawyer, before he or she can practise as a lawyer, has to do a period of articling. Consultants pass the exam, and the next day they can hang out their shingle. This is completely unacceptable.
How do we achieve this? We achieve this by enacting regulations. The immigration act, section 91, allows the government to promulgate regulations in relation to the ICCRC. I looked at the wording, and I'm not sure if in its current form the regulatory power is sufficient to allow it to put in place the type of regulation that I'm suggesting. We have to look at that more carefully. However, what I'm suggesting to you is that the government put into the regulations minimum standards of education, the minimum requirements, that a consultant spend a certain minimum period of practicum before he or she can be licensed.
We require this because, I agree with Mr. Sharma, the ICCRC has not put in place sufficient requirements to ensure that consultants are competent.
I also agree with Mr. Sharma that there's a fundamental difference between a consultant who does processing and a consultant who appears before the Immigration and Refugee Board. There should be different requirements of competence. There should be additional training required before a person represents someone before one of the tribunals of the Immigration and Refugee Board. All of this can be done by putting in place minimum requirements into legislation that any consultant would have to meet in order to become a member of the ICCRC.
In this way the government would ensure that any consultant is qualified. It wouldn't dependent on the ICCRC alone to set the minimum qualifications, because—I agree with Mr. Sharma—the qualifications that are now set requiring an online course of 320 hours is not enough to protect the public.
Finally, I think the regulations should allow the government to also conduct audits, in addition to the enforcement powers of the ICCRC. The government should not be dependent on the ICCRC to deal with situations of abuse when CBSA or CIC becomes aware of a consultant who is doing illegal activities. It should be free to conduct audits and enforce the regulations to ensure proper representation.
Thank you.