Speaking Notes – Canadian Bar Association
2015 National Immigration Law Conference
Innovation Nation: Reshaping Policy; Reimagining Practice
By Mario Dion, Chairperson of Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
May 9, 2015
Check Against Delivery
As a member of the Quebec Bar since 1980, it is both a pleasure and an honour for me to be able to address this audience for the first time as Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Thank you very much to the organizers for inviting me.
I know your mother organization quite well. I joined the federal Department of Justice as a lawyer right after being called to the Bar in 1980. I was part of a team of four providing advice to the then Ministry of the Solicitor General. The Immigration Act of 1977 was still referred to as a recent piece of legislation. I remember reading it carefully as there were several interfaces with the then Parole Act and Penitentiary Act. The first eight years of my career in the federal public sector were devoted to legal advisory work. Then I crossed the line because of my deep interest in management and became Assistant Commissioner at Correctional Service Canada responsible for, among other things, representing the Service on the team crafting a brand new Corrections and Conditional Release Act that would ultimately be passed in 1992. I started to have a direct daily association with the Deputy Minister of Justice as ADM of Corporate Services at Justice and did so until 2003. I remember the importance that a succession of deputies (Roger Tassé, Frank Iacobucci, John Tait, George Thompson and Morris Rosenberg) placed on maintaining good and sustained working relationships with the Canadian Bar Association in the criminal, administrative, and tax law spheres as well as in this one. When I left Justice in 2003, it was as Associate Deputy Minister after my first Order-In-Council appointment as such in 1995.
Since that time, I have had the opportunity to work with the CBA on a number of occasions: first in my role as Executive Director and Deputy Head of the Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution of Canada from 2003 to 2006, and then in my capacity as Chair of the National Parole Board between 2006 and 2009.
The CBA played a very important role in setting the stage for the Comprehensive Agreement on IRS and this is not as well-known as it should be. One day, someone will hopefully write about the various steps and partners I worked with in providing advice to the Martin and then Harper governments and in making the largest settlement in Canadian history a reality.
I have never regretted my decision to join the legal profession. This is why I did not hesitate one second to come here and speak today as the brand new Chairperson of the IRB.
I know that many of you in attendance here today appear before the IRB. Unlike you, I am not at all an expert in immigration or refugee law. But I do see among this group a few familiar faces, and for those of you I have not yet had the opportunity to work with, I look forward to meeting you over the course of my mandate.
First Impressions
I’d like to share a few thoughts from the perspective of a newcomer to the IRB, albeit one who also happens to have more than a few years around Ottawa in the federal family under his belt!
I applied to become the eighth Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board and the one that would lead it for the initial part of its second quarter century for three main reasons: the profoundly humanitarian aspect of the IRB’s mission, its enviable international reputation, and the opportunity to tackle new management challenges.
One of the things that attracted me to this organization I now head was its mandate of making well‑reasoned decisions on immigration and refugee matters, efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law. Administrative law was my highest mark in law school because I had a profound interest for this relatively new discipline (back in 1977) and the pervasive influence it had on millions of Canadians each year. I know that the most important factor to succeed in a tribunal is the quality of its members. The importance of selecting our members using the best possible tools and providing continuous education to them is the key to success. That is why I join 33 IRB colleagues at this event and why it is our tradition not to miss such high quality events. Next month a delegation will be attending the CCAT annual event.
I became Chairperson of the IRB in January of this year and these past few months have been quite busy. My head is filled with the hundreds of hours of briefings I have received and the numerous discussions I have had with members across the country.
At first glance, I was very impressed by our personnel’s commitment to the Board’s mission.
This commitment is different from what I have seen in some other government departments and agencies: our personnel are drawn to the IRB because of the humanitarian aspect of our mandate and the institutional independence of our organization. The same reasons I decided to apply last spring. And, that is why they stay with the Board for longer than what might be considered the norm in the rest of the federal public service. We will continue to ensure that we recruit the best and try to maintain and improve the quality of the workplace to maximize their contribution. As a result of cuts and other initiatives over the last few years, we have to rethink how to maintain the positive nature of our workplace.
It is also obvious that the coming-into-force of the major reform in December 2012 resulted in fundamental changes at the IRB, and that the Board is still called upon to continue to manage the impacts of the reform of the refugee system, more than two years after its implementation. Change is part of our everyday reality at the IRB.
Strategic Priorities
Managing change requires adaptability and flexibility, which are two qualities we have incorporated into the Board’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. Our first priority is to resolve cases in a timely manner while ensuring quality and fairness.
Three of the IRB’s four divisions are now subject to legislated timeframes. The Board will strive to achieve a high level of productivity and render decisions within established performance targets. The Board must also ensure that it maintains the quality and fairness of its proceedings. We do have a significant backlog at the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) and Paul Aterman, the Deputy Chairperson of the IAD, talked about this at a workshop yesterday. We need your involvement in determining how some new approaches could assist the Board in reducing waiting times at the IAD. The Immigration Division (ID) is the only one that does not have a backlog because of the hard work of Susan Bibeau and her team and the nature of their work as well. I am now working with Ken Sandhu at the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) to ensure we do not build a backlog there through the appointment of a good number of additional decision-makers and the introduction of tools such as transcripts to facilitate the work of this new appellate division. We will be launching a process to replenish our list of qualified individuals for appointment to the RAD or the IAD probably later this month and I suggest you keep an eye on our website should you have an interest to serve as a member over the next few years.
Finally, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) is facing its own challenges, but we have a plan to address them in concert with the 75 public servant members that currently form the division. We will be doing additional hiring there as well over the coming months. These 25 additional positions will also be filled by public servants.
Adaptability and flexibility will be critical to the IRB’s success in fine-tuning its processes as it continues to gain experience with the reformed refugee determination system.
In addition, innovative strategies will be required to reduce the average processing time for immigration appeals and complete the Board’s work in eliminating the inventory of pending legacy refugee protection claims. We are now down to fewer than 5,000 principal claims in the RPD for legacy cases.
The IRB will seek to strengthen collaboration with portfolio agencies to enhance productivity and efficiency while safeguarding the Board’s institutional independence. And this is very important. Our partners, Luc Portelance and Anita Bigus are very cognizant of this fundamental feature of the organization I lead and I will not hesitate to always keep it at the forefront as the imperatives of justice require that it be so.
Recognizing that service consolidation remains a significant priority across government, the IRB will also work with central agencies to ensure that the Board’s operational context and critical needs are fully understood.
The effective management of human resources is essential to the efficiency of the public service. Ensuring that the IRB has a supportive work environment and its personnel are productive and resilient is critical to the Board’s continued success.
As I’m sure you can imagine, putting these priorities into action would be impossible without the energetic support and commitment of IRB personnel and the ongoing close working relationship with our partners and stakeholders. The Board has always been able to rely on this support and partnership, and I’m confident that we can continue to do so in the future.
I consider open communication and, more particularly, a commitment to keeping our stakeholders informed and up-to-date on important work we are doing, to be one of the central pillars of maintaining effective and fruitful relationships. That’s why I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on one of our current areas of focus, the three-year evaluation of refugee reform. For us at the IRB, this includes the required horizontal evaluation by CIC of the reforms, as well as our own internal evaluation. The CIC evaluation will cover the relevance and performance of the new system across seven different departments and agencies, including the IRB.
Concurrently, the IRB is undertaking is own evaluation to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of its processes in relation to the work of the Refugee Protection Division and the Refugee Appeal Division, the two divisions that were covered by the reform of 2012.
The IRB’s evaluation will not assess the legal and policy framework established by Parliament, nor will it assess member performance.
It will instead look at factors like challenges, resources, and the organizational and government structure created to implement the new system.
It will also involve consulting with our stakeholders on the awareness and access to information about the IRB processes and cases, by users such as yourselves.
While respecting the institutional independence of the IRB and adjudicative independence of its members, the evaluation will draw on multiple lines of evidence, from interviews, surveys, and quantitative data such as case management, financial and administrative data, as well as other key documents.
The evaluation should be completed by the end of this year. It is another reason why I find leading the Board at this juncture presents a particular challenge for me.
Legal issues
The IRB, Canada’s largest independent federal administrative tribunal, is an integral player in administrative justice in Canada — we are committed to openness, transparency, due process and, in sum, the rule of law. These are fundamental tenets of a democracy.
Who will be detained for immigration purposes? Who will be allowed to remain in Canada? Who will receive refugee protection? Who will be allowed to sponsor their close family member? The questions we deal with profoundly affect the lives of the people who come before the Board, their families and Canadians.
As Chairperson, I am committed to ensuring impartial, just and efficient decision-making in all four divisions, each carrying a special mandate under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. As each member decides a case on the basis of the evidence and submissions before them, the quality of each decision is enhanced by the effective advocacy of members of the CBA. It is a good thing that the vast majority of claimants, persons concerned and appellants before the two appellate jurisdictions are represented by counsel or a member of the CAPIC.
As you are all aware, as of December 2012, our members have been interpreting new provisions of the Act, which impacted the Refugee Protection Division and created the new Refugee Appeal Division. We are happy to have received some important guidance from the Federal Court, particularly concerning the scope of the RAD appeal, and we are eager to see what the Federal Court of Appeal will decide.
In reading the factums currently filed by the parties and the interveners before the Federal Court of Appeal in Huruglica, we can fully anticipate that the Court will provide further critical guidance to RAD members on how to proceed. Nancy Wiseman explained the whole situation yesterday at a workshop.
Also, as you no doubt are aware, in February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada heard five appeals that involve the “trans-national crime” of people smuggling.
In four of those cases, the underlying decision was made by the Immigration Division of the IRB.
All divisions of the IRB will be keenly interested to see whether the Supreme Court guidance changes the case law with respect to the proper approach to affect international instruments or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Operations
I’d like to turn now to a few recent operational changes you should be aware of as counsel who interact with the Board on a regular basis in your day-to-day work. As a user of Twitter since 2012 (and if you like, you can follow me…mdion1956.), I’m particularly excited about the recent launch of our English (@IRB_Canada) and French (@CISR_Canada) Twitter accounts. Our presence on Twitter is part of our ongoing efforts to keep Canadians and stakeholders informed of the IRB’s activities.
It reflects the need to facilitate access to the Board’s online content to address the growing popularity of mobile devices and the use of social networks, of which Canadians are currently the highest users in the world. You can find us on Twitter at "at IRB underscore Canada" and also at "a commercial CISR tiret bas Canada".
And now that you know our corporate Twitter handle, I look forward to having all of you as our followers!
On another note, additional security measures have been implemented in IRB offices. These include the installation of metal detectors in some areas.
I’d like to underline that counsel who are members in good standing of regulatory authorities, such as provincial bar associations or the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council, and who have membership cards for these organizations will not have to undergo this security screening (they will not, for example, be required to walk through metal detectors).
Details regarding the measures to be applied for other IRB visitors are still being finalized.
Conclusion
We at the IRB are all very much aware that immigration lawyers are important stakeholders in fulfilling the mandate of this organization. I am looking forward to my meetings with our stakeholders over the coming weeks and months—and I am particularly looking forward to chairing my first Consultative Committee on Practices and Procedures meeting on June 9th.
Certain bills that are currently being debated before Parliament might result in changes within one or more of our divisions once they are enacted. Despite the many changes that have taken place within the IRB, our status as an independent tribunal remains the same. And it is with confidence that we continue our mission to administer justice, while upholding both excellence and integrity.
I thank you for your time, and I look forward to continuing the fruitful partnership between the IRB and the Canadian Bar Association as I pursue my mandate.
Thank You, Merci.
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