Underneath the Golden Boy - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

86 Underneath the Golden Boy
question the decisions of the regulatory bodies, or represent the interests of an
applicant to a body. Instead the Commissioner composes a series of reports and
audits on the practices of the regulated professions. 33 These include an annual
report to the minister, who may choose when to submit the report to the
Lieutenant Governor in Council. 34
When the legislation was first introduced, critics warned that the principles
of fairness would be replaced by political correctness. 35 Moreover, instead of
promoting open or expedient regulatory procedures, critics pointed out that the
Fairness Commissioner’s office would only create additional delays. 36 Some
argued that the power granted to the Commissioner to conduct audits was a
threat to self-regulation. 37 There was concern that audits would reduce the
flexibility of the registration process, add new costs to it, and generally replace
the process of assessing professional competency with a purely bureaucratic
assessment of credentials. 38
It has now been more than a year since the Office of the Fairness
Commissioner was created, and the product of the office, the first set of audits
33
Ibid., ss. 13(3), 15.
34
See ibid. s. 15(6). The Minister must submit a copy of the report to the Lieutenant Governor in
Council who will cause it to be laid before the Assembly if it is in session or, if not, at the next
session. However, it does not specify within what timeframe the Minister must submit the
report. See The Office of the Fairness Commissioner, 2007-2008 Annual Report (Toronto:
Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2008), online: Office of the Fairness Commissioner
[Annual Report].
35
George Jonas, “Keep the Fairness Fairy Out of It”, National Post (15 July 2006). The concern is
that “‘[f]airness’ will be interpreted as if it were a synonym for ‘equality,’ and ‘equality’ as if it
were a synonym for ‘parity.’ If professional associations were inclined to expedite matters for
exceptional practitioners, the [Commissioner] would either stop them or make sure that
matters were also expedited for unexceptional ones. If an association decided to view diplomas
from first-rate institutions in the developed parts of the world at par with Canadian diplomas,
the FC's office would make every effort to stop it from ‘discriminating’ against diplomas issued
by second-rate institutions in undeveloped regions.”
36
Ontario, Legislative Assembly, Official Report of Debates (Hansard), No. 101A (3 October
2006) at 5168 (Elizabeth Witmer), online: Legislative Assembly of Ontario
.
[Bill 124: Second Reading (3 October 2006)].
37
Ibid.
38
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, News Release, “More Bureaucracy Equals
More Barriers: The Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006 will do little to improve
access for international medical graduates (IMGs) in Ontario” (8 June 2006), online: The
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
cited in ibid.