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Ex-chair blasts salaries at immigration consultants' society
Published on: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 15:12:01 GMT
The former chairman of a body the federal government set up to regulate immigration consultants says he quit because board members wanted to pay themselves $60,000 a year to attend 12 one-day meetings. Toronto lawyer Ben Trister told CBC News that he resigned from the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants last month over his concerns that a majority of board members were mismanaging the organization.
"The more people who come to know about what's going on there, and how people have been paid, and the kinds of decisions that have been made – the people who are running the organization now shouldn't be allowed to continue to run it," he said.
As proof, Trister points to several other resignations involving the society, including another board member, two chief executive officers, and a governance expert who he says called the board "delusional."
The federal government created the society two years ago to impose ethical guidelines and standards on an industry that had been plagued with problems. Many potential newcomers to Canada were complaining that their cases were handled poorly, or that unscrupulous people calling themselves consultants had taken their money for no work.
The immigration minister at the time, Denis Coderre, named Trister and eight others to the board of the society, which had more than a million dollars in startup funds.
Trister became chairman of the board, but resigned at the end of October. He said he quit because the eight other board members were proposing to pay themselves an annual salary of $60,000 each for a job that requires 12 one-day meetings a year.
CEO Don Lamont resigned at the same time.
There have also been questions about board interference in the hiring of society staff members.
John Ryan, the new chairman of the 1,600-member society, referred questions to board member Patrice Brunet.
Brunet wouldn't comment on Trister's complaints, or reveal how much board members are paid, but said the amount is reasonable.
"The board does not endorse Mr. Trister's opinions," he added.
Joe Volpe, the current immigration minister, said there's little he can do because the society is now an independent not-for-profit corporation.
"One doesn't know whether this is a question of birthing and growing pains, or whether it's a longer-term systemic issue," he told CBC News.
Trister, who informed the government of his reasons for quitting in blistering resignation letters, said the situation is clear to him.
"These aren't growing pains, they're shrinking pains," he said. "This organization is in jeopardy."
Another board member who quit over how things are being run, Jill Sparling, says the federal government should intervene.
"I don't know if they have a legal responsiblity to do anything, but they have a moral responsibility to make sure this board is being run in the best way possible," she said.
By paying thousands of dollars in annual membership fees to the society and being members in good standing, immigration consultants who charge a fee for their services obtain the right to deal with the three federal agencies most involved with immigration matters.
Those are Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Canadian Border Services Agency.
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