Mr. Speaker, today our Conservative government is fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on crooked immigration consultants who victimize those who dream of coming to Canada by stealing their money, providing bad immigration advice and encouraging them to lie to Canada's immigration officers.
The cracking down on crooked consultants bill would make it a crime for unauthorized individuals to provide immigration advice for a fee and would punish them by up to two years in prison and a $50,000 fine if found guilty.
The government is also responding to the concerns regarding the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, whose directors have been accused of being in financial conflicts of interest, retaliating against legitimate consultants who criticize them, and running the organization without any transparency and for their own financial gain.
I hope Parliament passes these changes expeditiously and protects those who dream of immigrating to Canada from crooked immigration consultants.