The situation in passport offices is “unacceptable”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ruled on Tuesday, while his government tried to redirect additional resources to Service Canada from elsewhere within the federal apparatus.
“We understand that people are facing unacceptable delays, an extremely difficult situation, but we are continuing our work every day to resolve this situation and we will resolve it,” he said during question period.
Earlier in the day, the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, indicated that her department came in reinforcement. “The request has already been made to us and there are resources that have been loaned to help Passport Canada, but it must be understood that during this period we also had to deal with tax season,” she said. in a press scrum.
Families Minister Karina Gould, who is responsible for the file, said discussions were underway to secure more support from both the Department of National Revenue and Immigration, in addition to World Championships Canada.
“We will of course look for resources [peu importe] where they come from. Even in my department, we have reallocated hundreds of people internally as well,” she said.
She noted that hirings have been made at Service Canada, with the addition of 600 employees, but added that the work was not finished and that she shared Canadians’ frustration with the situation. “I saw the pictures [provenant de] Montreal since last week and it’s really something unacceptable. We have senior management from my department who have been on the ground for two weeks to improve the situation. »
Minister Gould again pointed out that Service Canada employees work overtime, including on weekends, and that some members of the public are seen by appointment outside of regular hours.
Exasperated crowd
” It’s not enough. I agree,” commented Quebec government lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez. He, too, said he understood “people’s concerns, anger, frustration” when asked about the fact that the police intervened with certain people in line.
When passing the To have to in front of the Service Canada office at Complexe Guy-Favreau, late Tuesday morning, the atmosphere was tense. At least nine police cars were parked outside the building, and dozens of people were already waiting in makeshift camps outside to get an appointment the next day. Inside, more than a dozen police officers regulated access to the escalators leading to the passport office floor, while more than a hundred people waited on the lower floor.
For a second day in a row, François was in line in front of the crowded room. “I had an appointment yesterday, but they forgot to photocopy my old passport, so they told me to come back,” he said, distraught among the glum crowd.
Charge of objections
During question period in the Commons, the Conservatives and the Bloc also kept up the pressure by hounding Prime Minister Trudeau on this issue.
The Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition, Luc Berthold, described the situation as a “national crisis”, while the Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, spoke of “the madhouse”.
“Before leaving this week on a trip, does the Prime Minister want to try this, sleeping in the rain for two days? quipped the Bloc leader.
Mr. Trudeau replied that efforts continue to be made to stem the crisis.
The deputy leader of the New Democratic Party, Alexandre Boulerice, believes that the reinforcements from other ministries are long overdue. “It seems for the moment a little too little, too late, but we still have to put in the necessary effort and hope that the new people will succeed in speeding up the process,” he said in an interview.
Why not extend the opening hours of the passport offices 24 hours a day, seven days a week? On this issue, Minister Gould argued that this poses challenges since employees must also schedule time to process the files received.
“During business hours and of course after hours, Service Canada staff are still receiving the documents, but they also need to do the checks, print the documents,” she said. affirmed