First, I must state my comments from an MP's point of view. I will refer to a question by my colleague, Mr. Bonin. This is a practical question, and I will tell you about my personal situation.
It goes without saying that my employees are there to serve the voters. It is a part of their job and of mine as well. I have a budget for this purpose. This is basic.
Previously, I had one half of a person for dealing with passports and birth certificates. We also help people fill out their forms, this occurs very often in Quebec and also when dealing with foreign countries. We help them in every way we can. I imagine that my colleagues do that as well. Let me emphasize that I am speaking on my own behalf. I would not want you to think that I am speaking on behalf of others and I would not want others to speak on my behalf.
Thus, I had one half of a person-year and there was no problem. Currently, I have one and a half person-years. My riding office has a reasonable operational budget, but I have no budget to hire an employee and a half to deal with passports, a half person-year to deal with employment insurance, a half person-year for other miscellaneous things. I would have six assistants and I could no longer spend on anything else. I could no longer travel.
You might think that we are offering quality services because I am a federal member of Parliament. This is done in a non-partisan way and has nothing to do with my being a federalist or not. I am not a federalist. There are federal programs, and we offer the services.
But my co-workers and myself bear the brunt of all the criticism. I created a system. Thus, if they are not happy, we will move out and I will have them sign a brief letter that I will send to the minister. Thus, you can expect some correspondence. I really want to help, but I cannot do anything about the criticism. All I can do is repeat to them what your employees tell me. You know that they are doing their best. Unfortunately, that does not go very far.
With regard to the MP Desk—I am currently the MP for Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata—Les Basques—, we might just as well forget about it. It is not their fault. Perhaps they did not get any training. I do not want to call them incompetent, but they do mislead us with regard to the timelines and dates for the issuance of emergency passports, etc. It is easier to deal with competent people in the Quebec and Montreal regions than to use the MP Desk. I want you to know this. I will not identify any employees by name or by number. I simply want to tell you that this system really does not work.
You tried to answer the chair's question, and I understand that the same question is being asked thousands of kilometres from here, perhaps less so in eastern Quebec. I think that I can speak for my other colleagues from that region because I know them very well. In eastern Quebec, on the north and south shores, namely in the St. Lawrence estuary, something could be done so that people do not have to go all the way to Quebec. People from Gaspé have to drive for five, six, seven or eight hours to get a passport. In the winter, it is out of the question. It is useless.
Let us forget Post Canada, because even if you pay $15, there are further problems. People try to be polite, they tell you that your photo is attractive, but it is not accepted, and the application is returned. I have observed this, among other things.
With regard to Service Canada, and now I am speaking on behalf of my riding and the neighbouring ridings, Service Canada is not at all prepared to do anything at all in this area, unless we give them the tools that they need, or recruit new personnel or whatever.
Now let me ask you my question. Ms. Thomas, you answered a few questions, but I was astounded to hear one of your answers today. I understand that you said that you did not think that you were hit all that hard. I am very surprised, because you, or at least Mr. Cossette and your associates, were aware of the number of travellers from Quebec and Canada that go to the United States every winter, in addition to business travellers, etc. You had some idea of the number of people and of the time when this would happen. Moreover, the United States had been discussing this for a long time. It was a question of time. However, I was astounded when I heard you say that you had been taken by surprise.
What is your current backlog? What measures have you taken to make sure that applications are promptly dealt with? In my opinion, 60 days is too long.
Now let me deal with my colleague's question. If you receive a mail bag today, how long does it take for it to get opened? We understand that there is a backlog of mail bags.
Do you realize—and this was Mr. Bonin's question—that during that time, the $85 for the federal government in the envelopes are not deposited in the bank?
Imagine if the employee in charge of the mail—I think that this must be a monumental task—opened the envelopes, took the cheques and the credit card payments to cash them in. I understand that you would get paid in advance, but I wonder if the clients would be happy with that. Thus, the money remains inactive. To complete Mr. Bonin's question, could you give us an idea of how much money is lying inactive in mail bags?
With my first question, I wanted to know why you told the clerk that you were available for only one hour.