“It’s useless information to me,” says one Windsorite stuck in line, outside waiting on the street to get into the CIBC building downtown.
Fawzi Qaisi, who has spent the last week getting his application organized, needs a new passport to go on a trip to Ohio.
CTV News asked him about a new Passport Canada website, which outlines the number of passports issued in the previous week, how much overtime staff are working and how many new employees were hired by the agency.
“That’s great, but when you can’t get an appointment to get your passport, it’s useless information to me,” says Qaisi.
The most recent data is for the week of July 11-July 17.
It indicates, more than 48,000 passports were issued across Canada, more than 7,000 hours of overtime were worked and 50 new employees were hired, to try to tackle the passport backlog.
Signs up at the passport office in Windsor, Ont. on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV Windsor)Ed Zusko needs a new passport because his was recently stolen and he wants to make sure his old one is cancelled and a new one issued.
He braved the line Monday because calling Passport Canada didn’t fix the situation.
“It’s more than frustrating,” says Zusko. “I don’t mind waiting 25 minutes on the phone but an hour later nobody’s still answering? That’s ridiculous.”
Connor Bondy could have spared himself time off work with that website, after being turned away last week at the Windsor office.
“We came with two hours left at two (o’clock) because it closes at four but we got sent home saying that we won’t have enough time,” Bondy tells CTV News.
He took another day off work Monday just to get his passport application processed, in advance of a planned trip to Mexico in November.
“I knew this was gonna be like a big time waster so I came here bright and early,” says Bondy.
Also in the crowd, Avleen Bath and her family.
“We were at Service Canada, and we were waiting for like an hour. And then they couldn’t help us. So we came here (to CIBC building),” says Bath.
Her brother needs a new passport in time for a planned trip to Mexico in November.
Travellers who need are in urgent need of a passport will have to prove they need the document soon and will face additional fees.
TORONTO – Ontario is pushing through several bills with little or no debate, which the government house leader says is due to a short legislative sitting.
The government has significantly reduced debate and committee time on the proposed law that would force municipalities to seek permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a car lane.
It also passed the fall economic statement that contains legislation to send out $200 cheques to taxpayers with reduced debating time.
The province tabled a bill Wednesday afternoon that would extend the per-vote subsidy program, which funnels money to political parties, until 2027.
That bill passed third reading Thursday morning with no debate and is awaiting royal assent.
Government House Leader Steve Clark did not answer a question about whether the province is speeding up passage of the bills in order to have an election in the spring, which Premier Doug Ford has not ruled out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
