Reasons for Decision

Transcription

1 DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE Panel: Georges Boissé, Public Representative, Chairperson Deborah Song, Member John Lironi, Member Between: Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council Patricia Harper for Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council And Liza Lucion, R No. CD Andrew Roman for the Panel of the Discipline Committee Date of Hearing: Thursday, April 28, 2016 Date of the Reasons for the Decision: May 10, 2016 Reasons for Decision Introduction The complaint was heard by conference call of a panel of the Discipline Committee of the three members listed above, on April 28, The panel reviewed and discussed the written submissions of the parties provided to the panel before the hearing. Also attending the conference call were Carla Gelbloom, who recorded the minutes and the panel s decision and independent legal counsel, Andrew Roman. Ms Harper was available during the call to answer any questions the panel had. Page 1 of 5

2 Agreement of the Facts The Parties submitted an agreed statement of the facts: Liza Lucion ("Ms. Lucion" or the "Member") is a consultant registered as a Member with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council ("ICCRC"). 2. All references to the Code of Professional Ethics (the "Code") in the Agreed Statement of Facts and Schedules "B" and "C" are to the Code as in force and effect as of June 2012 and not to the Code as updated in 2016 unless otherwise noted. No The Member was retained by the Complainant on or about December 12, 2012 with respect to his application for permanent residence (the Application ). Allegation of Misrepresentation re LMO 4. The Complainant alleges that Ms. Lucion represented to the Complainant that a Labour Market Opinion ( LMO ) would be obtained with 4 months. 5. As of December, 2013, a full year after having entered the Retainer Agreement, the LMO had not been obtained. 6. The ICCRC withdraws the allegation made under Article 4.1 of the Code, Maintain Integrity, which relate to the alleged LMO representation. 7. In withdrawing the allegation under Article 4.1 of the Code, the ICCRC acknowledges that whether or not Ms. Lucion represented that she would be able to obtain an LMO for the Complainant within a defined period of time cannot be established definitively by the evidence. Allegation re Failure to Register an Agent 8. Ms. Lucion entered into an agreement with an acquaintance of the Complainant, to act as the Member's agent for the purpose of the Application. As part of the agreement between Ms. Lucion and the acquaintance, the acquaintance was entitled to receive 25% of the fees paid by the Complainant. 9. At no time was the acquaintance an employee of Ms. Lucion, nor was he registered as her agent. 10. The ICCRC acknowledges that the acquaintance acted as Ms. Lucion s agent only with respect to the Complainant s Application and that Ms. Lucion and the acquaintance do not have an ongoing consultant/agent arrangement. Page 2 of 5

3 11. The Member acknowledges she breached Article 6.4 the Code, Registration of Agents, by using the acquaintance as an unregistered agent. No. CD In or around April 2013 the Complainant retained Ms. Lucion with respect to the sponsorship of the Complainant s brother under the Family Sponsorship Program ( Application ). Allegations re Failure to Provide a Retainer Agreement 13. Ms. Lucion acknowledges that she must enter into retainer agreements with all clients and that she did not do so in this case. 14. Subsequent to being retained by the Complainant, Ms. Lucion was the subject of a compliance audit. As a result of that compliance audit, Ms. Lucion was required to make changes to her retainer agreement template. Ms. Lucion has made those changes. Please find attached as Appendix "1" to the Agreed Statement of Facts the current Retainer Template used by Ms. Lucion. 15. The ICCRC acknowledges that recent changes to the Code of Ethics have removed infractions with respect to retainers from the Code of Ethics and in the future technical infractions related to retainers will be addressed by regulation. 16. Taking into consideration the steps Ms. Lucion has taken to improve her Retainer Template and the recent change to the Code of Ethics, and for the purpose of reaching agreement between the Parties, the ICCRC withdraws the allegations with respect to Article 12 of the Code. Allegations re Lack of Communication with Client 17. The Member did communicate with the Complainant and answer client requests, but the Member acknowledges that she should have responded to client s in a more timely manner and should have provided the Complainant with greater details regarding the status of the Application. 18. As set out at Paragraph 1(b)(v) of the Notice of Referral, the Complainant alleged that Ms. Lucion did not respond to any s sent in Ms. Lucion has produced evidence that she did in fact respond to client s in The Member acknowledges that by failing to communicate with the Complainant in a timely and detailed manner she breached Articles 6.1.3, Communication with Client, and Article 6.1.4, Answer Reasonable Client Requests, of the Code. 20. The ICCRC withdraws the allegation under Article 6.1.1, Meet All Applicable Deadlines, and Article 6.1.2, Conduct Client Affairs in an Efficient and Cost Effective Manner. Additional Considerations Page 3 of 5

4 21. The Member has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with the ICCRC throughout the Complaints and Discipline Process. 22. The Member acknowledges that the Complaints set out in both No. CD and File No. CD demonstrates a need for improved client communication skills. Joint Submission on Penalty In addition to the Agreed Statement of Facts, the Parties jointly submitted an agreed recommendation on a penalty: 1. (a) No later than September 1st, 2016 Ms. Lucion shall take a minimum of 5 hours of Continuing Professional Development ("CPD") on the topic of client communication; (b) The CPD noted at paragraph (a) above shall be in addition to the 16 hours of annual required CPD. It is the responsibility of Ms. Lucion to find, register for, and complete CPD in fulfillment of paragraph (a) above. Ms. Lucion may not count hours spent taking a mandatory Practice Management Education course toward the fulfillment of the requirement at paragraph (a) above; (c) Ms. Lucion will provide the ICCRC Registrar with a sworn/affirmed declaration that she has completed the Professional Development requirement noted at paragraph (a) above no later than September 6, 2016; (d) A reprimand in the form set out in the attached Schedule "C" shall be placed in the Member's for a period of 2 years from the date of the Discipline Committee's Order; 2. This Order shall be published on the ICCRC Website; Decision (a) The Order shall be transferred from the Recent or Current Decisions section of the ICCRC Website to the Archived Decisions section of the ICCRC Website on receipt of the sworn/affirmed declaration noted at paragraph 2(c) above. (b) On transfer to the Archived Decisions section of the Website, the Member's name and registration number shall be redacted. After carefully reviewing the written submissions of the parties, the panel unanimously approved the Joint Submission on Penalty. The panel found that the proposed penalty adequately addressed the need for a general deterrence to the entire membership, as well as a specific deterrence to the Member. The panel decided that the proposed penalty is reasonable and in the public interest. The panel commended the parties for reaching an agreement on both the facts and the proposed penalty. Page 4 of 5

5 The panel directs ICCRC s Complaints and Professional Standards Administrator to insert each of our electronic signatures in the signature lines at the end of these Reasons for Decision. ICCRC Discipline Committee Panel Members: Georges Boissé, Public Representative, Chairperson Deborah Song, Member John Lironi, Member Page 5 of 5