44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2022 11:00AM
- May/9/22 2:52:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned many times in the House, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in the demand for passports. After two years, Canadians understandably would like to travel again, but that means that when everyone is applying at the same time, it is a lot for the system to handle.
That being said, we have ensured that we have hired additional people. We have opened on evenings and weekends. In fact, this past weekend, 12 centres were open to service folks, and we have ensured that every wicket will now be open in passport offices to make sure that we are serving Canadians as well as possible.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/9/22 2:52:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the passport process has become a nightmare to thousands of Canadians. Tyler and Ira from Dawson Creek, through no fault of their own, had to travel 14 hours and spend hundreds of dollars to get their passports, just hours before their trip. What used to be a simple task of completing a passport form is now causing sleepless nights, unnecessary stress and huge expense to those who just want a break from the past two years of this Prime Minister's lockdowns.
When will the minister end the nightmare?
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/9/22 2:54:28 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, last week the minister bragged about her visit to the Saskatoon “out-of-Service Canada” office, yet, after her visit, the daughter of my constituent, Viktoriia, still cannot get a passport, because they lost her birth certificate. By contrast, the Bangladesh High Commission sent six people to Saskatoon on the weekend, and they processed 800 passports in two days.
How is it that a foreign government can get more done in two days than this minister can in two months?
84 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/9/22 2:55:06 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say to the people working at Service Canada who have been working overtime and weekends and doing everything they can to service Canadians, “Thank you.” They are under extreme stress because of the overwhelming volume of passports that they are working really hard to process. I know, as I visited the folks at Service Canada in Saskatoon and they spoke about the good working relationship they have with that member of Parliament. At no point would I ever want to disparage the incredibly hard-working public servants who are working around the clock to serve Canadians.
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/9/22 2:59:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Gail and John from the South Shore of Nova Scotia were refused entry into Canada upon their return from Florida, in spite of having vaccine proof and their passports. These Canadians were denied entry because they had not filled out the “no ArriveCAN” app. Like many Canadians, they do not have smart phones. Canadians are being hoisted on the government's phone petard.
Why is the government not allowing Canadians to come home if they do not have a smart phone?
85 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to learn that the NDP is in government, because I was not aware of that.
The Liberal government is incapable of providing services to Canadians. The immigration delays are a catastrophe. The unemployed find it impossible to talk to someone about employment insurance. Now there is a crisis with passports, even though everyone knew that people would want to travel when the pandemic ended.
Is my colleague seeing the same thing in his riding? People may well have to give up their plane tickets and their travel plans because government offices cannot meet the demand for passports.
102 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, we are seeing lineup after lineup of people not being able to get their passports. I have a number of constituents, just as all my colleagues in the House do. There are people who applied in January and February. It is now May, and they are still not able to get their passports. This is causing great consternation. They are wondering if they are going to be able to get their flights, be able to get them on time, or are actually going to be able to travel.
After two years, we realize there are going to be a number of people who want to travel, so it would have been prudent to increase the number of staff to handle the workload that was going to happen as a result of the passports expiring over the last couple of years.
142 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, it is true. I hear it in my own community. Certainly, the staff at the constituency office are helping individuals as best they can with respect to passports. That is something that has been raised in this House, and I expect it will continue to be raised. We are seeing across the country a huge increase in the demand for travel. I believe there has been a 40% increase, to be specific. Naturally, when we have that kind of an increase, we will have quite a lot of people pushing for a passport renewal. I think the government needs to continue to ensure that individuals have timely access to that, as much as possible, through Service Canada. The minister responsible has been very clear that extra hours have been made available. More staff have been brought in on weekends, for instance, and are working overtime. I know it is a difficult thing for people to go through, but it really does reflect the fact that we are seeing an increase in demand all at once, and this is the outcome, unfortunately.
183 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
