Canada's Crappy New Government Screws Up Passport Office
We have endured about 13 months of our crappy new government. Much has gone wrong, but nothing worse than the way the Canadian passport process was caught completely unprepared for a surge in demand. The passport office has completely bogged down with numerous breaches of security. The demand surged when our Federal Conservatives were unable to stop their mentor and hero, George Bush, from unilaterally changing the rules for cross border traffic between Canada and the USA.
CTV has some excellent coverage on the mess.
"Passport Canada told CTV News its system was designed to handle up to 14,000 applications per day Since the U.S. rule change, the offices are receiving approximately 22,000 per day.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser saw the potential for problems several months ago. Fraser told CTV News recent audits of Passport Canada found regional offices were not prepared for an onslaught of new applicants.
"None of them or very few of them had any formal contingency plans to deal with peaks in volume," Fraser said. "Many of the offices were not ready for an increase in demand."
In the last two years, Fraser has also flagged gaps in security at passport offices, although she has noted improvements.
CTV News asked Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to explain why his department wasn't more prepared, for the U.S. change he knew was coming. He told us they're in the process of catching up now."
-CTV.ca
-Get You Passport For Flights To The USA After January 23rd
Photo courtesy CTV
