Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good day, Mr. Chairman. My name is Michel Jobin. I'm from Quebec City. I have a university education: I have two undergraduate degrees, including one in law. I am also a member of the Quebec Bar Association. I worked in a private firm, then in public administration in Quebec, in

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chairman, if my memory serves me, the motion tabled on December 12 stated that we were to be questioned on the qualifications of appointees by order in council to the IRB. I understand that we are all citizens and that we all have an opinion on a subject we hold dear, but I

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Over the past eight years, as members of the board, we noted that there were delays between the time an individual arrived and remitted the form containing their personal information, on the one hand, and the time this individual was heard by a member, o

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The delays occur for various reasons. Some individuals file their asylum claim when they arrive at the point of entry, either at an airport or a border crossing. Sometimes people file it several weeks or months later. In these cases, the individuals have already been here for som

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The answer is no. As I told you, I am a lawyer by training. I worked at the Department of Justice and the Department of Education. Before I was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board, I was working in the area of administrative law. I also worked at a hospital in Quebec

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would like to make the following correction: I was appointed in September of 1998.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There is the initial training. The first hearings took place a little later on. Over the years, our line supervisors observe us, read our decisions, listen to us, make recommendations and suggest how we could improve certain skills. I believe that you have the competency standar

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I was appointed for a three-year period the first time; I then obtained a five-year term and, recently, a two-year term. In total, that is 10 years.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chairman, in order to answer this question, which is quite direct, I must say that we regularly receive training on the documentary evidence of each of these countries. In a few weeks, we will be beginning training on Mexico, for example. Over the years, over the months, I h

Citizenship and Immigration committee  From time to time training is provided to members who wish to improve one aspect of their work, such as information seeking. We are taught how to use research tools such as the Internet. We have received training on research using computer systems, on how to find information on t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As far as I'm concerned, I have never been asked to improve any aspect of my competencies. I cannot answer for my colleagues, but I personally have never been asked specifically to improve such and such an aspect of my competency standards.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In my interview in 1998, there were some simulation exercises. There was an oral interview and a written examination. I assume the members of the panel used a grid to analyze our answers and decided that we were acceptable candidates, because we got the position. That is the only

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chairman, to answer the very specific question that has been asked, I must say that we—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  When I spoke about delays, Mr. Chairman, I was referring to the delay between the time when a person arrives in the country and submits his or her claim and the delay until the claim is ready to be heard. Of course, the number of members of the board vary. Some leave, and others

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In answer to the member's question, Mr. Chairman, I would like to add that I have worked on Middle East cases for quite some time, more specifically those from North Africa. In Montreal, we assigned cases from North Africa and the Middle East to the same team. At the time, I was