Soon I will have been an MP for 10 years, and I have received 50,000 applications. If I add the 10,293 applications that I received last year, we can see that this number is constantly going up.
All of the actions taken makes people feel more secure. I suppose that we have developed some expertise, but that does not constitute a guarantee of security for you, because you have to intervene all the same.
You said that 95% of passport applicants reside within 50 km of a passport service location. In the case of Sherbrooke, which is my riding, the Estrie region is relatively big and so many people have to go more than this distance. So a good portion of our population must be part of this 5%.
In 2004, we asked for a regional passport office similar to the one in Saguenay. Is the Saguenay office profitable? How does one assess the profitability of a passport office?
Talking about profitability, I don't know if it was an error or an official announcement, but the passport costs $62. However, I though that it cost $87. Has there been a change?
I don't know to what extent we are helping you. Do these numbers demonstrate significant need? In 2004, we asked for a passport office; some 12,000 or 13,000 people had signed a petition to that effect. Sixteen municipalities have apparently asked the government for its support in obtaining a passport office.
In order to increase efficiency, do we need to decentralize a bit, a lot or not at all? When was a passport office opened in Quebec? What conditions to the regions have to be able to fulfil in order to obtain a passport office? On what basis do you determine whether or not there is a significant need?