Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak on this motion.
I sat on the immigration committee which dealt with immigration consultants. It was interesting to hear the testimony from various witnesses. We heard from people who used the services, who saw the need to have immigration consultants and realized the level of commitment that many immigration consultants have. We also heard from witnesses who reported instances showing that there was abuse, that there were consultants who perhaps did not have the necessary skills, that there were consultants who were misrepresenting Canadian law and were putting people's lives in jeopardy by misrepresenting the situation as they found it. We heard of problems which occurred overseas and problems which occurred here in Canada.
One of the things the committee decided was that there was a need for some way to regulate, license and control these consultants to make them accountable. The committee also felt the department of immigration could do some things. For example, it could provide information in people's own languages. It could explain what Canadian law was, what immigration regulations
were all about, what was required. It could also explain that people did not need to hire a consultant.
In some countries government officials are not considered to be trustworthy and there is a hesitancy by individuals to have government representatives deal with their applications. Therefore, there is a need for immigration consultants. The committee recognized that and recommended that there be some level of licensing and some level of control.
This motion takes it to the next stage by saying that all immigration consultants should be licensed and controlled and that there is a need to enter into negotiations with provinces and the federal government to come up with some means of regulating and licensing these individuals.
In my previous life I was a realtor. I know from experience that provincial boards can be established through provincial legislation. These boards can license and monitor people who provide services to the community. These boards can be self-regulating and self-financing. The membership fees can cover the costs of these organizations. Therefore I do not feel that this motion is being unrealistic.
Medical doctors through their colleges have that kind of control. Lawyers through bar associations have that kind of control. Realtors have that kind of control. There is no reason that immigration consultants could not have the same kind of committee or board structure at the provincial level which would allow this kind of management.
People have asked: Why do we need to have these controls? Why can it not be buyer beware? Why not let the immigrants make the decision as to whom they want to hire? It is fine to put the onus on the consumer to pick the best choice. There is no question about that.
However, we need to offer some protection to people who may have a language problem or who may have a fear of persons in authority. That protection could be offered through a regulatory body at a provincial level which would be self-disciplined, self-regulated and self-financed. I will explain what this kind of board could do.
Not only could the board license individuals, but there could be some kind of testing of the individual's competence to provide the services. It could offer a vehicle for people who complain about the services they acquire from consultants. It could be a place an individual could go if they felt they were charged too much for a service.
The board could establish a proper fee or a fee which would be reasonable for certain kinds of procedures. The board could provide disciplinary measures for those individuals who overstep the guidelines, who overstep the laws of the land and who misrepresent the Canadian immigration department. This organization could provide the necessary disciplinary action to control people who hold themselves out as immigration consultants.
The board could provide some kind of financial responsibility. It could collect fees from people who want to be immigration consultants. It could distribute educational material. It could distribute changes in legislation to all those who provide the service. In other words, it could act as an administrative body to ensure that people who are acting in that capacity are all operating at the same level, or at least at an acceptable level to the organization.
The motion is not something which is impossible to reach or impossible to establish. I believe there would be a reluctance on the part of the provinces to get involved in this kind of thing. Unfortunately the licensing of businesses does come under provincial jurisdiction. However, if the provinces could understand that they would not be required financially to establish these boards or regulatory bodies they might be more willing to consider this as an option.
The committee found that the federal government could only do this on its own in a limited way. The federal government is not in a position to establish this kind of regulatory body. It can deal only with those tribunals over which it has control.
I believe the motion is sound and reasonable. I have no problem in supporting the hon. member in his effort to deal with this very serious problem in Canada.