Indian-born Canadians and their family members are lining up around the clock in Brampton for a chance to get a piece of government ID — one they didn’t need until a few weeks ago — that will allow them to travel home.
With the upcoming holidays and last month’s news that India has indefinitely suspended visa services for Canadians, many are suddenly faced with uncertainty around when they’ll next be able to make the trip.
That’s partly because travellers who would have used a visa are lining up for the one service the Indian government hasn’t suspended: the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card.
The in-demand ID gives card-bearers the right to visit India and stay as long as they like, as many times as they want, over the course of their life.
At a plaza in Brampton’s Northwest area, hopeful applicants could be seen outside the OCI office. The line of dozens of people stretched out of sight — people sleeping in their cars, napping on chairs, and sharing food and conversation with one another.
“It’s a panic situation,” said Vidhi Desai, who booked a surgery in India for a serious health condition because of long-wait times in Ontario. She isn’t hopeful she’ll get her documents in time.
People line up outside the BLS international office in Brampton at midnight. Some say they haven’t left their spot in the queue for hours. (Saloni Bhugra/CBC)
Desai isn’t the only one. Day or night, dozens wait outside the office, which is only open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday. They don’t want to miss the chance to apply — fearing future travel changes amid tensions between India and Canada.
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the Indian government had involvement in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In response, the Indian government said its diplomats in Canada faced “security threats” and suspended visa services for Canadians and reduced staff in the country.
In a statement, the Indian Consulate confirmed “OCI applications are being accepted and processed as per normal.” But it won’t matter, Desai said, if she can’t get into the actual office to make an application.
She can’t line up overnight because she has to take care of her young kids. Already, she’s missed work three times in one week to join the queue even though Desai says she feels there’s “no chance” she’ll get to the front.
Lining up at dawn no guarantee
Last week, Edgar Xavier drove three hours from London to Brampton to submit his son’s OCI application. He’ll have to make the trip again next month.
That’s because the company the Indian government uses to process the applications, BLS International, only has two offices in Ontario: Brampton and Toronto.
Xavier says part of the stress of the process comes from the number of people who can’t get a visa anymore being added to the queue.
“The other part is the time and the work that it takes to get the application done,” he said. “The Indian government is asking for too many documents and their processing time is just too long.”
Edgar Xavier says he drove from London at 4 a.m. He will join the line again next month for his son’s OCI application. (Saloni Bhugra/CBC)
Processing time for OCI applications is six to eight weeks, an executive agent at BLS International told CBC Toronto, though some have said they’ve waited longer.
“There are a lot of calls we are getting about OCIs these days,” the agent said, adding that there are currently no changes to the process in the works.
Right now, he says the Brampton office is booking appointments beginning in November, but that people who can’t wait in line could also use a mail-in option. He says people should not book plane tickets until they receive their visa.
Pratik Verman says he’s missed three days of work trying to get into the BLS office in the hopes of making it to a family wedding next month.
Pratik Verman wants to attend a family wedding. He joined the line at 4 p.m. to be able to apply at 8 a.m. the next day. (Saloni Bhugra/CBC )
“Last week I started waiting at 4 a.m. and couldn’t get in,” he said.
Verman says he’s worried about people waiting outside — sleeping even — in the cold as winter approaches.
“They need to have some seating space inside,” he said. “What will happen next month when the temperature dips… and it’s snowing?”
Some taking turns overnight to reserve a spot
Jaswinder Ghuman and her elderly father-in-law have tickets booked for Oct. 22 so they can reach India for the festival of Dussehra. Diwali is next month, which also kicks off India’s months-long wedding season.
On Oct. 12, Ghuman says she lined up at 4 a.m. for her father-in-law, standing for eight hours to reserve his spot while he waited on a chair nearby. She says it was hard to watch an elderly person waiting outside so long. By 12:30 p.m. they realized they didn’t stand a chance.
“He has gone back home every year since 2001, but we don’t know if he can go this year,” Ghuman said.
By time Ghuman joined the line at 4 a.m. Richard Patel and his friends had already been in the lineup for 14 hours. Even they didn’t make it in.
Richard Patel, middle, and his friends waited for nearly a day for an OCI appointment but weren’t successful. (Saloni Bhugra/CBC )
After waiting for 23 hours, the office closed for the day. Patel and his friends said they’d have to take turns sleeping outside the office in the hopes of improving their odds for the next day.
“It’s not fair for us,” Patel said.
He thinks BLS International should hand out tokens and establish cut-off times so that “we are not wasting our time.”
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.
