Statement made on 24 March 2011 by Senator Percy Downe
Hon. Percy E. Downe:
Honourable senators, I am sure the minister did not want to leave the impression in the answer she gave to Senator Callbeck that passport services are now available in those communities she named. In Prince Edward Island, once every nine or ten months, there is a half-day session in those areas for people who can go to where the sessions are to get that service. However, as Senator Callbeck indicated, for most Islanders, there is a cost to go to Halifax because, unlike other Canadians, we have to pay $47.25 to go across the bridge just to leave the province, and then there are additional costs for travel and so on.
A woman called me recently. Her daughter won a regional swimming meet, and they were then going to a competition in the United States. The daughter had no passport. The mother asked me whether that meant she had to go to Halifax, drop the documents off, return home, make another trip back to Halifax to pick up the documents, and incur that additional cost that no other Canadian has to assume.
Could the minister advise whether that is fair for Prince Edward Islanders?
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