Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. Certainly my colleagues at other clinics and I have our fair share of war stories. We've seen these cases from consultants, from a friend who did the application, even from lawyers. I do have to say that the robust investigation and prosecution through the law society mechan

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I really see so many cases that have ballooned into a giant legal problem that really just beg a common-sense solution. I think that our points are specifically to take this really blunt tool that has been created through subsection 91(1) and section 21.1 of the Citizenship Act a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  —subject themselves to some very, very serious penalties should a mistake be made and they are not licensed. And I think they're kind of driving the problem underground.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay. You started your questions by highlighting the submission of the Canadian Bar Association, which advocates that, because of the complexity of this area, it should really be undertaken only by lawyers. In an ideal world, I certainly would agree. I agree about the complexity

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I may, first I would love to address your point. Thank you for making it about legal aid being a provincially mandated issue. My understanding is that this is a bit of a problem, and it might be one for this committee to turn their minds to because immigration and refugee law

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think the provinces really struggle with that. The federal-provincial transfer for legal aid funding is inadequate to meet the needs of immigration and refugee law, and there are a few recent articles in the Toronto Star speaking specifically to the growing backlog of immigrati

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In respect of the Inter Clinic Immigration Working Group, whose position I'm bringing forward today, we have not considered that question. I'll just say it's not from the group I'm representing. Certainly, though, it seems like a practical piece of probably a multi-point solution

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Another point that I didn't get a chance to make, although it's in our brief, is that we're very aware that relative to other provinces we are extraordinarily well resourced in Ontario. There are parts of the country where there is not only not a clinic to refer to or a legal aid

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There's no way.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay. Amend section 91 of IRPA and section 21.1 of the Citizenship Act to ensure that newcomer-serving NGOs are exempted from the harsh penalties, and ensure long-term financial security for newcomer-serving NGOs with professional development opportunities. Where there is no a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much for having me here today. I am an immigration lawyer at a community legal aid clinic in Toronto called Neighbourhood Legal Services, but I am here today on behalf of the Inter Clinic Immigration Working Group, which is a network of lawyers and paralegals in O