The federal task force created to improve service delays says that after spending the summer addressing the significant lineups and wait times experienced by Canadians at airports, passport offices, and those waiting for immigration applications to be processed, the situation is starting to improve but “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“There’s a lot of work to do and in some cases, we aren’t up to the pre-pandemic service level that Canadians expect and deserve,” said task force co-chair, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller during a press conference on Monday.
Providing an update on the progress made so far, the government touted improvements including:
hiring more than 700 new staff for passport offices;
decreasing passport call centre wait times;
setting up more passport “pick-up services and triage measures”;
hiring 1,800 more security screening officers at airports;
decreasing flight delays,cancellations and baggage woes; and
hiring 1,250 new staff to tackle the backlog and accelerate processing immigration applications.
Miller acknowledged that the situation experienced by Canadians this spring and early summer “should never have happened,” and that in some areas the federal Liberals were “slow in responding.”
In assessing what prompted this service delivery crisis, task force co-chair, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien said Monday that it was the result of demand far exceeding the federal government’s capacity to respond. It’s a situation being experienced in other countries as well, she added.
Ien cited an “unprecedented” surge in Canadians travelling; the impact of having to adjust to international travel restrictions and border closures; and government-wide reduced processing capacity during the pandemic as exacerbating factors. Though, Miller said the government is not looking to blame others—whether airlines or other unprecedented global events like the war in Ukraine straining government service demands—because “a lot of the responsibility did lie on our shoulders.”
“There’s a lot of work to be done, and looking inwards and seeing how we can get that machinery of government back up and going to a service standard. And then looking at the long-term as to what we have to do to fix the problem, whether it is old systems that haven’t been updated for decades, whether it is more people,” Miller said.
He added that these approaches have been taken over the summer to expedite fixes to see people get their passports more quickly, but questioned whether that’s the most effective way to provide a more systemic fix and break down the government’s “silos.”
Monday’s press conference was held alongside the cabinet ministers who have responsibility for tackling the long lines at airports as well as passport and immigration offices: Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, who is responsible for Service Canada; Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra; Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser; and Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.
Taking turns highlighting statistics meant to indicate how the situation is turning around, the ministers said they will continue to work on further improving Canadians’ access to these key government services.
“We know that the wait is too long, and in many cases, we need to address it and to return the service standard that our clients—Canada’s future students, workers, permanent residents and citizens— have come to expect,” said the immigration minister about the backlog in processing those files, promising additional measures to help over the next few months.
Asked when Canadians can reliably expect passport turnaround times to return to what they were before the pandemic, Gould said those who have travel planned within 45 days and go to a passport office will receive their passport within 10 days, barring specific security or other complications. She said the challenges remain more with the mail-in application system, often because these submissions don’t have a specific upcoming travel date.
“We’re making considerable progress and we hope to be back to more normal service standards this fall,” Gould said.
In late June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the creation of this task force—a committee comprised of 10 cabinet ministers—acknowledging the “unacceptable” wait times and delays Canadians have been experiencing with passport and immigration applications.
The prime minister tasked the group with reviewing service delivery, identifying gaps and areas for improvement, and making recommendations to improve the quality and efficiency of government services.
The task force has met 10 times since it was struck, and says it has been making changes along the way, but will also be making recommendations to the prime minister through cabinet.
“That is inevitably what will result in any sort of improvements that Canadians deserve,” said Miller.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
