After two years of the pandemic, is it any surprise today that many Canadians wanting to travel are knocking on the door of Service Canada to renew their precious passport?

It was highly predictable.

However, Service Canada did not see it coming... Sigh...

Unacceptable wait

For weeks, people have been running into huge queues and, worse, being told to go home. The telephone system is unreachable.

You are now told to come back with proof of travel 24 to 48 hours before departure... As if 24 or 48 hours before leaving on a trip, people had nothing better to do than to wait for hours in queues without even being certain of leaving with the blue booklet.

Our wonderful Canadian government has not provided sufficient resources to ensure that Canadians who need to renew their passports can do so in a timely manner. Such a waste !

Voyages in peril

Liberal Minister Gould came out to the press to tell us with a big smile that she knew that there were millions of passports to renew in the country, but that the problem could not be solved in the short term, or even before the summer.

I can't believe what I heard. After two years of pandemic, many people are looking forward to this holiday as a relief. Many are exhausted. Others have mental health issues. Most have put their small savings into a long-awaited trip, and the minister comes to us with a big smile, offering no solution for issuing passports.

It's so unacceptable. Especially since for most people, the forms were duly completed and approved by a Service Canada agent several months ago.

A SVP mode solution

We must send officials from other departments as soon as possible before people have to cancel their well-deserved vacations.

The federal government is good at lecturing the provinces; that it therefore begins by ensuring the delivery of its own essential missions. It looks like a “banana republic”.