New day, new rules at Complexe Guy-Favreau, where hundreds of people are waiting – outside – to obtain a passport. The queue was reshuffled according to travel dates on Thursday, to the dismay of those who have been waiting for days. And for those who stay, the hope of having the precious document before the date of their departure is reduced to a trickle.
Updated yesterday at 10:00 p.m.
“Those who leave tomorrow, they have already passed. Those who leave on Saturday are inside, ”explains Nassima Kherbache, first in line in front of the door of the imposing building around 8 p.m. Thursday. This is the third day – and night – that her family, mainly her spouse, has been there. The goal: to obtain a passport for their 6-year-old daughter before they leave for Algeria on Sunday. It has been more than five years since Mr.me Kherbache did not see his family left there. The baby was only 8 months old.
An hour later, Nassima Kherbache leaves the Complex, crestfallen. She did indeed obtain the appointment for the renewal of the passport… two days after the date of departure.
Of course I am disappointed. I will try to change my flight, but everything has been sold out for a long time, and the flights are very expensive…
Nassima Kherbache
Her spouse, Arezki Badjiarezki, simply cannot believe it. Indeed, a little earlier, Service Canada’s new strategy had raised the tension outside the building by a notch: people who had been waiting for three days – including his family – were overtaken by other who had arrived only a few hours earlier.
“I’ve been here for two nights and there are people who come six hours before their flight and they pass quickly. I understand, I’m really happy for them, but I would have liked that, too, to come just 24 hours before my flight, “told The Press Melissa Matta, who applied for her passport in person last March. He was then told that his travel document would be ready on 1er June, in time for his departure for Peru on Sunday.
From The Pressaround 9:30 p.m. Thursday, dozens of people were still waiting to receive a coupon the same evening, as promised by the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould.
Uncertainty
Melissa Matta, like the people around her, is wondering what to do with her plane ticket (keep it, reschedule it, cancel it), especially as Ottawa announced earlier this week that officials from Service Canada will be required to work on the statutory holidays of June 24 and 1er July. However, the offices will be closed to the general public.
“We have been in uncertainty from the start. We don’t know what will happen. We hear rumors that they are going to be open tomorrow, that they are going to give appointments, but we do not know if it is true, ”explains Mme Matta.
I would like them to be transparent, to tell us what to expect at this stage of the queue, whether or not we are likely to be able to leave on the weekend.
Melissa Matta
A little further in the line that then stretched along three sides of the imposing building, Marie-Christine Henssen accompanies her sister Cristel. The latter must renew the passport of her son who is supposed to fly away for his very first trip, to Belgium, on Sunday.
“I was not going to leave my sister alone here at night, exclaims Marie-Christine Henssen. It’s no fun at night. Everyone is super nice, but still, I didn’t want to leave her alone in there. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Tarps are attached to trees and street furniture.
During the nocturnal thunderstorms, the two women took shelter under a plastic sheet and a large parasol that they had brought. Several “campers” also set up tarps which they attached to trees and street furniture. Chemical toilets have also been installed on the sidewalk to allow people to relieve themselves elsewhere than in an alley.
” We have it ! »
On the other side of the Guy-Favreau Complex, Mélanie Dubuc came out of the building triumphant, arms in the air, and very emotional. ” We have it ! “, she said, falling into the arms of her spouse and her ex, the father of her daughter.
The family trip to Walt Disney, originally scheduled for April 2020, has been postponed to Spring Break. But the daughter of Mélanie Dubuc was declared positive for COVID-19 before their departure. The mother reapplied for a passport for her child in March, as it would have expired before their new departure, scheduled for June 24.
They contacted their MP to make sure they got the passport in time for the end of school. He was the one who confirmed to them that the document would be ready on June 23.
“It was the deputy who sent us here, but we had no official proof,” says Ms.me Dubuc, his eyes still moist. “They checked and they let us in. »