Statement made on 01 October 2009 by Senator Catherine Callbeck
Hon. Catherine S. Callbeck:
Honourable senators, as I have mentioned before in this chamber, my home province of Prince Edward Island is the only province that does not have its own passport office. Islanders must travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia, or Fredericton, New Brunswick when they need to apply in person for a passport. This trip takes time — in addition to the processing times — because Islanders need to travel from their homes to another province. There are exceptional costs, such as missing a day or two of work, bridge or ferry tolls, gas money and, if necessary, hotel expenses to stay overnight while waiting for a passport to be issued.
In the case of an emergency, these added challenges can pose a substantial delay for those who must travel at a moment's notice. I launched this inquiry back in June because of a disturbing passport-related incident involving an Islander who contacted me for assistance. She has given me permission to relay her story in the hope that it may not happen to another Canadian.
On the morning of Friday, April 24, 2009, I received an urgent call about a passport for a woman whose husband was in critical condition in hospital in the United States. He was a trucker, and had a heart attack on one of his runs. She needed to fly to the United States immediately to be with him, but she had no passport. My office staff contacted the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a Passport Canada official was immediately assigned to telephone the constituent to explain how to proceed. We were relieved because we thought the matter had been dealt with.
However, we soon received another call from the constituent's home. She had been told by the Passport Office that her only option was to travel to Halifax or Fredericton to apply in person for an emergency passport, and that it would take one business day to process the application. She was not advised that her passport might be processed more quickly. It was already late Friday morning. The closest passport offices were in Fredericton and Halifax but were three to four hours from the constituent's home. She would have to complete her application, obtain photographs, secure a guarantor and drive to the passport office. It was possible for her to do those things before closing time but she did not know that her passport might be processed that same day. She had been told that processing required one business day and, therefore, assumed it would not be ready until Monday or Tuesday. She believed that acquiring a passport on short notice was impossible, and no one from Passport Canada advised her differently. Seemingly with no other options, she travelled by car to Bangor, Maine, and flew Saturday morning to Raleigh, North Carolina. Shortly after her arrival, her husband passed away.
Driving to Bangor at that time was an option for this woman because, as honourable senators know, Canadians did not require a passport to enter the United States by car. If such a situation occurred today, a person would have no option but to wait for a passport to be processed.
In light of this incident, I made an inquiry to the Minister of Foreign Affairs about passport services available to Canadians in the event of an emergency. The minister confirmed that urgent service can be received within 24 hours but only if the applicant requesting the service applies in person. An Islander must travel from Prince Edward Island to Fredericton, New Brunswick, or to Halifax, Nova, Scotia, after which it is determined whether an emergency passport may be issued. The minister also noted that the Operations Centre of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada offers 24/7 emergency service for Canadians. Calls concerning passports are transferred to Passport Canada. The Passport Canada official will outline only the individual's options for applying for a passport and will not ensure that the individual will receive immediate access to emergency passport services.
The minister also states:
As a general rule, Passport Canada does not keep its offices open after regular working hours. However, Passport Canada may provide a call back service for an additional fee to clients who need to travel in an emergency situation. The client will then be referred to offices that have the necessary printing capacity to provide such emergency services. Employees are called back to work overtime in order to process the emergency passport application. This is offered on a case-by-case basis and at the discretion of the manager who will make the decision based on the urgent circumstances presented by the applicant. In order to be provided with this kind of service, the applicant must submit a complete application for consideration.
It must be noted that the applicant must make the application before such services will be considered.
Some attempt has been made to provide passport services to Islanders. There are seven Service Canada and Canada Post locations, but urgent and express services are not available in these places. Passports are mailed to the applicants in approximately four weeks. In addition, Passport Canada brought their mobile Passport Office to Prince Edward Island in July. They set up for two days — one in Charlottetown and one in Summerside. Passport Canada officials were on hand to receive applications but four weeks were still required to process passports.
I am not the only Islander concerned about this lack of service. In June 2007, the 31st Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers passed Resolution 31-1, entitled "A Resolution Concerning the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative." The resolution states, in part:
Be it further resolved that the NEGECP (New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers) call upon their respective federal authority to quickly take appropriate measures to improve and accelerate the passport issuance process, to review the established terms and conditions of renewal and to establish a passport office in each state and province; . . .
A copy of this resolution was sent to the Prime Minister.
In April 2008, the Prince Edward Island legislature unanimously passed a motion to urge the Government of Canada to establish a devoted public-run passport office in Prince Edward Island. The Federation of Labour in my province, in association with the Public Service Alliance of Canada has also been working on this issue. The Federation of Labour passed a resolution on the subject and brought the issue to meetings with the federal Minister of Labour.
This issue is a serious one for Islanders. As honourable senators know, travel by car to the United States without a passport is no longer possible, so this is even more important than ever.
Prince Edward Island is the only province without a Passport Canada location. It is a shame. I am deeply concerned about the added delay of out-of-the-province travel for Islanders in emergency situations such as the one I just described.
I believe the federal government has to do whatever it possibly can to facilitate emergency passport applications, especially in times of extreme stress for the applicants and short timeframes. I would hope that the federal government would study the potential of emergency passport services delivered through existing government offices. I urge the federal government to explore all the options available to them and to implement solutions as soon as possible.