Proposed passport law would cut wait times
Last Updated: Monday, May 14, 2007 | 6:16 PM ET
The Canadian Press
The federal government plans to introduce legislation designed to shorten the long lines and lengthy waiting times that have become part of the passport application process.
The new Passport Canada Act would, in particular, simplify the process for passport renewals, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Monday in Ottawa.
“[The Act] will deal with some of the perceived and real difficulties around the application process including the renewal process,” he said. “We hope to be able to streamline that.”
A spokesman for MacKay couldn’t say when the government will bring the bill before Parliament for debate, adding that the legislation was still in the “talking stages.”
Canadian passports are typically good for five years after being issued, but the application process for a renewal is just as cumbersome as it is for getting a new passport.
There have been long lineups at many passport application centres across the country since late last year, just before new U.S. travel document requirements came into effect.
Under the new rules, anyone flying into the United States now needs a passport. Passports will be needed at land crossings as early as January.
The government wants to make sure the passport application process is carried out flawlessly, MacKay said.
“The issue of complaints around the initial applications and that information not being pristine has everything to do with security,” MacKay said.
“We cannot have false Canadian passports in the system,” he added. “There’s nothing that will have a worse impact on Canada’s reputation internationally than having false passports out there that are being used for nefarious purposes, including terrorism.”
‘Get a passport,’ U.S. ambassador tells Canadians
In another development, the U.S. ambassador to Canada warned Canadians Monday not to take any chances at land border crossings and get their passports ready.
“What I tell Canadians is the same thing I tell Americans … with all due respect, get a passport, that is the sure thing,” David Wilkins said.
He said there are a lot “mixed messages,” but he pointed out that a passport law has been passed and is in place.
“It requires passports for air travel now and it will require passports for land travel something between January ’08 and June of ’09,” he said.
He also suggested Canadians may want to acquire a NEXUS card, a pre-approved card designed to expedite the border clearance process for low-risk, pre-approved travellers into Canada and the U.S.
MacKay pledges faster passport service
OTTAWA — The federal government will soon introduce legislation to speed up the passport application process.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said today that the new Passport Canada Act would, in particular, streamline the process for passport renewals.
Canadian passports are typically good for five years after being issued but critics say the application process for a renewal is just as cumbersome as for getting a new one.
However, the minister suggests some things that need to be done to acquire a passport just can’t be rushed.
MacKay says the government wants to make sure the passport application is carried out flawlessly, to maintain the integrity of the documents and prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.
There have been long lineups at many passport application centres across the country since late last year, just before new U.S. travel document requirements came into effect.
From the Canadian Press
‘Get a passport,’ envoy says
May 14, 2007 01:53 PM
Canadian Press
CHAMPLAIN, N.Y. — The U.S. ambassador to Canada is telling Canadians not to take any chances at land border crossings and to get their passports ready.
“What I tell Canadians is the same thing I tell Americans, is, with all due respect, get a passport — that is the sure thing,” David Wilkins said today.
The U.S. ambassador said there are a lot of “mixed messages,” but he pointed out that a passport law has been passed and is in place.
“It requires passports for air travel now and it will require passports for land travel, something between January ’08 and June of ’09,” Wilkins said.
He also suggested Canadians acquire a NEXUS card. The pre-approved card is designed to expedite the border clearance process for low-risk, pre-approved travellers into Canada and the U.S.
Wilkins pointed out during a visit to a border crossing in Champlain, N.Y., that Americans are getting the message.
“We’re issuing passports to Americans at a rate of more than 1.5 million a month — almost 20 million a year.”
Wilkins said regulations for a cheaper passport card will come out this summer. The passport card is the size of a credit card.
“I think you’re going to continue to see Americans get passports and passport cards in record numbers.”
Meantime, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given the go-ahead for a pilot project that uses enhanced drivers’ licences at the border crossings between British Columbia and Washington state.
But Wilkins has thrown cold water on the proposal.
“We don’t know if that’s going to be successful. . . There are others that want to do that, there are other provinces that have talked about it.
“But, in my opinion the land portion of WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) will be implemented by Homeland Security sometime in the year ’08,” Wilkins added.
“I don’t believe this administration will leave office without implementing that.”
Ontario is developing a new enhanced drivers’ licence by the end of the year.
But Wilkins isn’t taking that idea or others seriously.
“Don’t rely on that . . . all these other alternatives are just discussions of what may be,” Wilkins added.
Ron Lennox, a spokesman for the Canadian Trucking Alliance, also expressed doubts about an enhanced Ontario driver’s licence.
“I just don’t see that as realistic in the short term,” he said.
“It would be nice because every truck driver of course has a licence but it would take a long time, I think, to get that in place.”
Lennox said the deadline for Canadian passports might pass before any new licences were in place.
The U.S. ambassador made his comments while inspecting a new customs clearance facility, which dramatically speeds up truck traffic at the Quebec-New York border.
An official with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service said since the facility opened in January, wait-times for trucks at customs now average about six minutes.
He said before it opened, truck traffic was lined up on the southbound highway and the wait-time was more than 90 minutes.
During peak periods, more than 1,500 trucks pass through the Canada-U.S. border point.
Construction on an improved passenger facility is continuing and is expected to be completed by early 2009.
