It is just one of hundreds of travelers shouting for their passports. Disappointed this morning, Soulier and others on the same boat began handing out papers to people to put their names on, in vain hope of setting up lines that seemed to go nowhere – some going through the huge lobby and even out The building. Eventually the police were called to take control of the crowd. “We had to fight with the gestionnaire to get them on our list, because otherwise there would be chaos,” Soulier said. “We made sure everyone went to their place because no one did.” “These people have no idea what they are doing. They do not care about us. They treat us like less than animals,” he said. “It’s absolutely outrageous and it has to stop.” Geneviève Guilbault, Quebec’s public security minister, called on the federal government to “take responsibility” for the delays. “Half of our taxes go to the federal government, so they need to be able to provide quality service to their people,” he said. The painful wait for passports is not unique to Montreal. Ever since commercial travel resumed, passport offices across the country have had to deal with an “extremely high demand” for travel documents, said Elaine Chatigny, Service Canada’s executive director for the Quebec region. In an interview Monday on CBC Montreal’s Let’s Go, Chatigny said before the pandemic, only 5% of all passport applications were urgent requests, such as death or work-related trips that required a response within 24 to 48 hours. . Although there has been a “sharp increase” in urgent travel in recent weeks, he said it is not the only factor responsible for the delays. Marie Soulier arrives at the Guy-Favreau complex in Montreal at 5 am for four consecutive days. It is supposed to fly to Europe on Tuesday afternoon. (Jennifer Yoon / CBC) “Now, we see citizens doing the right thing,” he said, sending his passport applications by post much earlier. However, the huge volume of requests has flooded the passport offices. “It’s hard to see customers and travelers who want a legal passport have to wait like that,” he said. “It’s painful for them, and it’s painful for our staff.”
Active recruitment
An official from the office of Karina Gould, the Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, told CBC News that the department has identified 200 federal employees working for Employment and Social Development in Canada who may be relocated to Assist in the processing of passports and the Revenue Service of Canada also determines whether any of its employees may be seconded to work. This is in addition to most of the staff the government has already hired this year to process files for extended working hours. In January, 1,500 employees worked on the passport program. Since then, Chatigny said, the government has hired 600 employees and redeployed another 600 former passport or other clerks and is actively recruiting another 600. “Becoming a passport officer is not something that happens with a two-hour training, it requires know-how,” he said. As their voter frustration grows, Liberal Cabinet ministers say Ottawa is doing everything it can to meet the demand for passports. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos called the delays “completely unacceptable.” After seeing images from the crowds outside the Guy-Favreau complex, Gould told reporters on Tuesday that her department had to implement a “new strategy” to deal with the huge volume of requests. “I know Canadians are frustrated. I’m also frustrated with seeing these pictures,” he said. Soulié said she had contacted her local MP, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, but there was no guarantee she would receive her passport in time to visit her grandfather in Europe, whom she had not seen for more than two years. “I have not been able to talk to an agent from Passport Canada for all this time,” he said. “I feel exhausted.”
title: “Disappointed By The Chaos Of Waiting For Passports Would Be Travelers In Montreal Take Matters Into Their Own Hands " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Ashley Sallee”
It is just one of hundreds of travelers shouting for their passports. Disappointed this morning, Soulier and others on the same boat began handing out papers to people to put their names on, in vain hope of setting up lines that seemed to go nowhere – some going through the huge lobby and even out The building. Eventually the police were called to take control of the crowd. “We had to fight with the gestionnaire to get them on our list, because otherwise there would be chaos,” Soulier said. “We made sure everyone went to their place because no one did.” “These people have no idea what they are doing. They do not care about us. They treat us like less than animals,” he said. “It’s absolutely outrageous and it has to stop.” Geneviève Guilbault, Quebec’s public security minister, called on the federal government to “take responsibility” for the delays. “Half of our taxes go to the federal government, so they need to be able to provide quality service to their people,” he said. The painful wait for passports is not unique to Montreal. Ever since commercial travel resumed, passport offices across the country have had to deal with an “extremely high demand” for travel documents, said Elaine Chatigny, Service Canada’s executive director for the Quebec region. In an interview Monday on CBC Montreal’s Let’s Go, Chatigny said before the pandemic, only 5% of all passport applications were urgent requests, such as death or work-related trips that required a response within 24 to 48 hours. . Although there has been a “sharp increase” in urgent travel in recent weeks, he said it is not the only factor responsible for the delays. Marie Soulier arrives at the Guy-Favreau complex in Montreal at 5 am for four consecutive days. It is supposed to fly to Europe on Tuesday afternoon. (Jennifer Yoon / CBC) “Now, we see citizens doing the right thing,” he said, sending his passport applications by post much earlier. However, the huge volume of requests has flooded the passport offices. “It’s hard to see customers and travelers who want a legal passport have to wait like that,” he said. “It’s painful for them, and it’s painful for our staff.”
Active recruitment
An official from the office of Karina Gould, the Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, told CBC News that the department has identified 200 federal employees working for Employment and Social Development in Canada who may be relocated to Assist in the processing of passports and the Revenue Service of Canada also determines whether any of its employees may be seconded to work. This is in addition to most of the staff the government has already hired this year to process files for extended working hours. In January, 1,500 employees worked on the passport program. Since then, Chatigny said, the government has hired 600 employees and redeployed another 600 former passport or other clerks and is actively recruiting another 600. “Becoming a passport officer is not something that happens with a two-hour training, it requires know-how,” he said. However, Kevin King, president of the National Employees Association, which represents employees at passport offices, said that extra workers could not validate passports because they had not completed the 12-week training program. The work done by transfer officials must be validated by a passport officer, he said. “Getting people from other government departments to help with things like traffic flow and the like, with office queues, does not solve the problem,” he said. King said he was concerned about the lack of courtesy from some people waiting for their passports. “There have been examples in Montreal where employees have been harassed, verbally harassed,” he said, adding that some of these harassments occurred as employees left their offices. As their voter frustration grows, Liberal Cabinet ministers say Ottawa is doing everything it can to meet the demand for passports. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos called the delays “completely unacceptable.” After seeing images from the crowds outside the Guy-Favreau complex, Gould told reporters on Tuesday that her department had to implement a “new strategy” to deal with the huge volume of requests. “I know Canadians are frustrated. I’m also frustrated with seeing these pictures,” he said. Gould told Radio Canada late Tuesday that the Montreal Passport Office, which she described as the most difficult situation in the country, would have a new system in place Wednesday morning. Numbers and appointments will be given to the world to reduce chaos and long queues. Soulié said she had contacted her local MP, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, but there was no guarantee she would receive her passport in time to visit her grandfather, whom she had not seen for more than two years. “I have not been able to talk to an agent from Passport Canada for all this time,” he said. “I feel exhausted.”
