Posted September 2, 2008
Article source Downtown Legal Services
Excerpt from a Downtown Legal Services news release (see full release below):
Victims of Immigration Fraud Reveal Hollowness of Federal Government's "Tough on Crime" Platform
A detailed Parliamentary committee report released in June following weeks of hearings confirmed what many newcomers to this country already knew: that the most vulnerable people in Canada are easy prey for unscrupulous immigration consultants. Now, anyone harmed by incompetent or dishonest consultants can help clean up the system. A new organization for Survivors of Consultant-Related Errors and Wilful Exploitative Dishonesty (SCREWED) has been formed, and a local legal aid clinic is inviting victims to share their stories on an exploitation hotline.
Macdonald Scott, a member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, has seen the damage firsthand: "One of my clients hired a consultant firm in Montreal. They took his credit card information, charged him two thousand dollars to do an application and did nothing. The next thing he knew he had $6,000.00 in charges run up on his credit card." The regulator took no action.
"We have the report -- we know what has to be done -- we need this Government to ensure that people can’t get away with crimes just because their victims are in the process of immigrating to Canada," said refugee/immigration lawyer Hilary Evans Cameron. "Bringing these cases forward will ensure that these urgently needed protections don’t fall off the legislative agenda."
The "Bad Consultants Hotline", at 416-978-6447, launches September 22, 2008 and will be answered four days a week by law students at the University of Toronto's legal aid clinic, Downtown Legal Services (DLS).
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