Justin Trudeau recognizes that the federal government has failed in the task with the mess of the last few weeks in the passport offices and the endless queues to obtain the precious travel document.
“I take my share of the responsibility as [chef du] government. I apologize, too,” he said in an exclusive interview with The duty on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on Thursday.
The Prime Minister says he is well aware of the headaches caused by the delays in issuing passports, particularly in the Montreal region. “I had to apologize myself to friends, who wrote to me to tell me that they had to spend two nights out but that they finally got their child’s passport, says- he. It shouldn’t have happened. »
Mr. Trudeau repeats that his government “saw coming” the significant increase in the number of passport applications, with the arrival of the summer holidays, the regained freedom of travel and the hoped-for lull in the pandemic. The federal government also hired hundreds of more civil servants in January, he recalls, and Ottawa is currently busy reassigning hundreds of others to unclog the passport application system.
“But we did not expect the magnitude we had,” agrees the Prime Minister. And the current situation is unacceptable, he acknowledged, like the minister responsible for the file, Karina Gould.
Ditto for flight delays and cancellations that are increasing at Montreal and Toronto airports. Air Canada announced this week a reduction in its flights this summer to ease the pressure on these hubs of air transport in the country. “People live really tough. A government should be able to deliver services. And it’s frustrating when you have trouble fulfilling one of the responsibilities that you have, ”conceded Justin Trudeau.
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