44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 23, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/23/22 2:19:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, promises and more promises, but never any results: That is the hallmark of the Liberal government.
The minister knew for months that Passport Canada was headed for disaster, and yet what did she do? She went full steam ahead anyway.
People were told yesterday that they could wait in line to get a number, so they would be able to get a passport. People waited in line all night in the rain to get a number. What happened? There were no numbers left this morning. That is their new strategy.
We have learned that it takes 15 weeks to train a new employee. The minister is going to say that she has hired lots of people. This is truly appalling. Who is going to take responsibility for this monumental Liberal fiasco?
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- Jun/23/22 2:20:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand Canadians' frustration with the passport situation.
We implemented a new strategy as of yesterday. We saw the lines of people forming outside of the Saint-Laurent, Laval and Guy-Fravreau offices, so they received tickets and appointments.
Today, 250 people who were outside the Laval and Saint-Laurent offices spoke with managers and got appointments. There are 10 or so managers in each office who are organizing people into 12-hour shifts to ensure that everyone can travel on time.
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- Jun/23/22 2:39:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the passport crisis comes as no surprise to anyone.
The union warned the government in January. This was foreseeable. Since 2018, the government has cut 450 jobs in passport offices. In the midst of a crisis, the 600 new hires the minister is talking about do not represent an increase in service. Those hires just bring the number of staff back up to prepandemic levels. We are in the midst of a crisis, and that requires crisis-level effort.
When will the minister deploy enough staff to keep the offices open seven days a week?
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- Jun/23/22 2:40:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, passport offices are open weekends in the busiest urban centres to make sure that people who urgently need their passport can get it.
We have hired 600 people since January and we are in the process of hiring 600 more. We are reassigning hundreds of employees from Service Canada and other organizations, including the Canada Revenue Agency, Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
We are making every effort to resolve this situation, which is truly unacceptable for Canadians.
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- Jun/23/22 2:41:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have already done all of those things that my hon. colleague is calling for. It takes 15 weeks to train a passport officer. This has already been going on for months. The first class of passport officers starts on Monday. This is not something that changes overnight. It is already in place.
The situation in Montreal improved today. In Laval and in Saint‑Laurent, everyone was given an appointment. At the Guy-Favreau complex, everyone is working to ensure that the hundreds of people there get their appointment.
We will continue to prepare and do everything we can to serve Canadians.
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- Jun/23/22 2:42:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a discrepancy between what we are hearing and what we are seeing. The passport crisis is not just an administrative fiasco. People are standing out in the rain at their wits' end. People are missing their parents' funerals. People are losing contracts. The minister's message to them? “Your call is important to us.”
When will the people standing in line truly feel their situation is being taken seriously?
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- Jun/23/22 2:43:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are taking the situation very seriously. That is exactly why we adjusted our approach in Montreal. The situation in Montreal is exceptional. It is not like anywhere else in the country.
Every day for the past seven days, between 1,500 and 2,000 people have lined up outside passport offices. Each person in line today got an appointment card for either today, tomorrow, Saturday or even Sunday, because we want to make sure they get their passport.
That is what we want, and that is what we are doing.
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