2 JULY 2010


CATHERINE MARX

Senior Policy Analyst

Social Policy and Programs – Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Ottawa, Ontario

CANADA GAZETTE

Vol. 144, No. 24 — 12 June 2010

GOVERNMENT NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT

Dear Ms Marx:

Thank you for your clarification which I received by email.

Instead of presenting you with a policy white paper or full submission brief, I feel it is best not to duplicate the comments presented to your office by fellow stakeholders. In short, I will simply comment on under-discussed aspects of immigration consultancy regulation.

Even though I studied law in the UK and the US, I chose to qualify as an immigration consultant because I wanted to work immediately in the field without the delay caused by articling in a law firm. I have also worked as an immigration practitioner in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, I bring both a legal and global perspective that is unique amongst my immigration consultant colleagues.

One of the congenital flaws of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) is the governance structure that the previous Government designed:

not only do the Bylaws give an unwise amount of discretion for the Board of Directors to disqualify member-proposed motions and member candidates, the very heart of CSIC’s constitutional crisis is its lack of accountability.(1). One of the selection criterion for a self-regulatory body should be the candidate organization’s proposed Accountability Structure.


The current regulatory organization has a shocking lack of accountability in which excessive penalties can be imposed by the registration staff with no appeal beyond the Registrar.

I would suggest that we adopt the Accountability model from the UK regulator, namely the Immigration Services Tribunal, which is an arms-length body that reports to the Ministry of Justice, is headed by a retired judge, is comprised of immigration consultants and stakeholders, and is tasked with the power to set aside or vary decisions of the Registrar of Immigration Consultants.

In short, the enumerated selection criteria for the self-regulatory agency should include a requirement to design an arms-length ombuds tribunal to whom consultants can appeal the decisions of the Registrar.

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(2). An important selection criterion for the self-regulatory body should be the candidate organization’s proposal for Ministerial Oversight therefore bringing the self-regulation of immigration consultants under the scrutiny of Parliament.

During the debacle of CSIC’s replacement of self-regulation with self-aggrandizement, one of the most serious failures of Canadian civil society was the official indifference by both Ministerial staff and Members of Parliament. Complaints about both the principles and practices of CSIC were met with disclaimers that as a private corporation operating at arm’s length to the federal government, nothing could be done and therefore consultants should use “internal measures” to seek redress. The tragedy is that there were and are no internal measures; the previous Government had set up the Bylaws of CSIC in such a way that a self-seeking managerial group could dismiss any complaint, any member-proposed bylaw, and any appeal without formal review.

Moreover, if the Parliament of Canada mandates membership of CSIC as a condition for consultants to practice then there is the constitutional issue of giving a federal regulatory role to a private organization without providing federal oversight. This reaches to the level of legal unconscionability.Therefore, the enumerated selection criteria should require candidate bodies to design a governance structure that includes Ministerial Oversight so that the self-regulatory agency is answerable to Parliament and parliamentarians.


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(3). A vital selection criterion for the self-regulatory body would be the aspirant organization’s demonstration that its candidacy commands the support of a majority of immigration consultants and therefore is truly self-regulatory.

Under the current regulatory regime, there is no self-regulation of and by immigration consultants. Canadian immigration consultants are regulated by former consultants that were appointed to the Board of Directors of CSIC by the previous Government who have used the Bylaws to cling to their authority. While CSIC’s governance principles are flawed, its governors are oppressive. The current managerial group compounds their personal thirst for positions of authority with a particularly short-sighted understanding of the regulatory mandate:

The “regulator” of a Self-regulating profession is not the same as the regulator of an industry such as public utilities or telecommunications companies. In those industries, the regulator is a government watchdog which exercises oversight in the public interest with legal authority as a counter-balance to the market power of the industry.

This watchdog/policeman model has been misapplied to immigration consultants and has created a situation in which the offices of CSIC have adopted a siege mentality in a war against the membership.

A self-regulatory agency is not a “regulator” from above—it is the practice of consultants regulating fellow-consultants.

In order to correct this misunderstanding of self-regulation by both the management and the membership of CSIC, it may be necessary for the new self-regulatory body to have a dual mandate of protection of the public interest (consumer protection) with supporting the development of the profession (consultant advocacy). There are precedents for this in other professions in Canada and more recently the Law Society of Scotland overwhelmingly voted to retain their “dual mandate” in Referendum 2:Should the Law Society of Scotland as statutory regulator continue to be responsible for promotion of the interests of, and the representation of, solicitors in Scotland?


Seventy-three percent of Scottish solicitors said yes.

Another aspect to consider is the electoral system for the new self-regulatory body and consultants would be wise to adopt the Law Society “bencher” model so that Directors are elected by their nominating regions and bring the concerns of their regions to the Board’s attention. The current CSIC arrangement is profoundly flawed.

Finally, any shortlisted candidate organization’s proposal for the self-regulatory role should be approved formally by the current membership of CSIC before being implemented by the Minister.

The enumerated selection criteria should require candidate bodies to prove that they understand self-regulation, require them to design a functional democracy, and insist that they seek a mandate from authorized consultants before the Minister will assign the self-regulatory role. In other words, the selection process must include a professional referendum.

In summary, I submit that the following areas of self-regulatory practice are under-discussed by my colleagues and immigration stakeholders:

 An Ombudsperson Tribunal for immigration consultant appeals of Registrar decisions;

 Ministerial Oversight so that Parliament and parliamentarians can communicate with the self-regulatory body; and

 Balancing the public interest with professional advocacy in the Self-regulatory Mandate .

Finally, the Selection Criteria must include a requirement for any successful bid for the self-regulatory role to be approved by a majority of consultants in a professional referendum.

I thank you for the opportunity to register my comments on the profession of immigration consultancy.

I remain, yours sincerely,

Garreth Westwood, MA(Econ) CFP JD(Cand)

Accredited Immigration & Citizenship Law Practitioner

Mr.Nigel Thomson CSIC Directior- Allegations aginst you

From: syed hashmi [mailto:imranhash@hotmail.com]


Sent: August-27-10 9:33 AM

To: board@csic-scci.ca

Subject: Mr.Nigel Thomson CSIC Directior- Allegations aginst you





Dear Mr.Nigel Thomson,



Chair CSIC ,



There is an allegation against you that some foreign nationals paid you $15000.00 for AEO and during interview visa officer bared them from entering into Canada for two years for applying, due to fraudulent (AEO) Arranged Employment opinion and CIC is investigating your conduct. Before making any decision we will give you an opportunity to clarify your position with in 48 hours ,otherwise we will refer this matter to our investigation branch for further proceedings.



We are Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.



International Immigration Industry

Today Csic Election is a biggest fraud in a fair election history

From: syed hashmi [mailto:imranhash@hotmail.com]


Sent: June-28-10 10:36 PM

Cc: minister@cic.gc.ca; kennedy.g@parl.gc.ca

Subject: CSIC Election-Biggest Fraud in election History



Dear Consultants,



Today Csic Election is a biggest fraud in a fair election history. It is time to requst to United Nation Organization to supervise CSIC election unless we have fair election rules.



Our ethical board declared these elction Void, as whole elction procedure was a fraud and a game of power hungry people.



We strongly request to Honorable Minister of Immigration to dissolve the CSIC after having power under Bill C35 and form a New Society based on more fair rules to Consultants and Consumer. Thank you Mr. Honorable Minister.





International Immigration Industry

CSIC chair John Ryan you should resign immediately.

Dear Mr.John Ryan,




On June 11,2010 in Toronto Town Hall meeting on Bill C-35, you said that "if there is an election call any time between now & 2011. Every thing (Bill C-35) that introduced this week will die". We consider it very outrageous remarks and it shows your real intention and feeling towards this bill.



*Please remember that on June 9th 2010, at a Public event in Toronto, Honorable Minister Mr, Kenney replies to Mr.Phil Mooney’s and Mr.Nigel Thomson about their particular concern, His reply was ‘’even if there is change hand of government, Bill C35 is unstoppable’’.



*We have noticed that recent Directors Elections is nothing but a fraud. Mr. Imran Qayyum is running this orchestra as an Election officer, who sold out dated material in $800 to Consultants, and both of you put a huge profit into your pockets. How consultants can trust both of you?



John Ryan you should resign immediately.



International Immigration Industry

unathorized Representative as well so they can JOIN NEW SOCIETY

To:




1-Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Canada

2-Catherine Marx,

Senior Policy Analyst, Social Policy and Programs,

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 365 Laurier Avenue

W, 8th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1



Re: Bill C-35 & IP 9(5.4) and Mr. John Ryan Outrageous comments on Bill C-35

We are glad that Government introduced Bill C-35. Now government will be more hands-on in overseeing the new regulator.



Present rules are permitted those unauthorized representative to work under IP9(5.4) read with Section 6 of the Immigration Manual, if they are providing/offering these services to their clients. This information is present until today (June 23/2010) on www.cic.gc.ca website under Immigration representatives: Who can represent you.



We will request you to establish a mechanism for those unathorized Representative as well so they can JOIN NEW SOCIETY in a smooth way. Please establish a fair transition period & rules for them as well. Their are over hundred of practitioners who are working in this industry in Canada alone, but could not become a Member of CSIC Society, because of their HIGHER FEES & unethical behaviour.



On June 11,2010 in Toronto Town Hall meeting on Bill C-35, Mr.John Ryan CSIC CEO said that "if there is an election call any time between now & 2011. Every thing (Bill C-35) that introduced this week will die". We consider it very outrageous remarks and it shows the real intention and feeling of Mr.John Ryans towards this bill. Therefore, we will request you to complete the whole process as soon as possible. Thank you.



Members of Immigration Industry

Conservative government is taking greater control of the immigration business

The Conservative government is taking greater control of the immigration business, announcing plans to choose a new regulator for immigration consultants.




We heard that five to Six groups are applying for the NEW REGULATOR. It includes,



1-CSIC (Lead by John Ryan +Nigel Thomson)

2-CMI (Lead by Imran Q)

3-CAPIC (Lead by Bruce Perreault +Phill Money+ Ron McKay) BC consultants want their share too. Having support of Katarina Onuska also

4- CSIP (Lead by Nancy Salloum)

5- I.I. Industry (Lead by Members)

6- Chinese Community Group (Lead by Toronto based Immigration Consultants)



Analysis



CSIC: In the presence of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney= Forget about this option, because Minister is aware what has happened under this regime.



CMI: Another culprit: A company who sold out dated material in $800. No chance of success.



CAPIC: Still has a clean record+ Offered Good and inexpensive Services to members



CSIP: Still has good record. Presented Good case against CSIC during Committee hearings in Montreal & Toronto



International Immigration Industry: Fighting for good cause, Still believing in IP9(5.4), that it is a good mechanism.



Chinese Community Group: Limited membership. It seems that they are only working in a small ethnic group. However, has reasonable roots.



New Bill approval in the Parliament:



We hope that new Bill will be approve soon, as Immigration Minister striked a deal with Liberal immigration critic Maurizio Bevilacqua to ensure quick passage of the bill before Parliament's summer recess --



New Democrat MP Olivia Chow called the legislation a step in the right direction. Therefore, NDP will also support this Bill.



Under present situation this BILL will become an ACT this summer.



Application for NEW REGULATOR:



After approval of the Bill Ministry will ask for NEW Applications for a New Regulator. Meetings behind the close doors are going on. New Groups are forming. Let's wait & see.





Hope for the best as Immigration Minister will watch this NEW SOCIETY.







Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/06/08/immigration-kenney-crooked-consultants.html#ixzz0qTGmounK



________________________________________

new regulatory body for Immigration Consultant is shaping up in the near future

Dear Immigration Consultants;




It seems clear that a new regulatory body for Immigration Consultant is shaping up in the near future. Minister initiative in replacing the existing regulator is imminent. CMI is out of Business therefore,



* We will strongly recommend to Members not to give any amount to this (CMI) defunct institute because you will not get back any amount.



* We also warn the old (CSIC) Society Directors not to remove any files from the Society Head office during MID NIGHT operation.



* We demand to Immigration Minister to Immidiately cease the Defunt CMI & CSIC record.



International Immigration Industry



Bcc to all Members