Evidence of meeting #27 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was offices.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Daryl Kramp Conservative Prince Edward—Hastings, ON
Thank you.
I'd like to stay on the timetable we have presented, the simple reason being that our researcher has been instructed to give us a broad overview of a number of the components we're about to study, and I think if we get in ahead of ourselves on that, we could just be doing some duplication, overlap, etc. Let's get the information he prepares, and then we'll have a chance to evaluate that and we can discuss it, and then I think it'll give us a much more focused sense of direction on where we need to go as a committee once we have this information.
Liberal
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Madam Chair, if I understood correctly, after our researcher tables the document, there does not seem to be anything on the agenda for Thursday, May 8. I would however like to go back to one of Ms. Folco's motions. Will we be able to read the documents? Will we receive them soon, or are we pushing you too much?
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Okay. What is important to me is keeping some time to go back to the issue of passports, to Ms. Folco's motion.
Liberal
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
If possible and so that there are no clashes, it is also important for us to have a well-structured plan for the federal government's procurement process. Would you be happy with a nice plan including the time, date and person?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
It is a bit difficult to produce a plan for Thursday, but Mr. Le Goff already has a preliminary plan.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
If we deal with passports on Thursday, you would have until Tuesday, May 27, to produce a plan. Does that suit you?
Liberal
Liberal
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My motion, which was distributed to everyone, reads as follows:
That this Committee undertake a brief study on the improvement of Passport Canada's services in the regions of Canada.
I don't think I really need to sell you on the idea, and what I am proposing is quite clear. If the motion is adopted and since we do not have anything on the agenda for Thursday morning for the time being, I would like—and I am mixing in lots of things—us to hold a meeting to see what we have to do and to prepare a very brief report with some recommendations, which should be enough.
Bloc
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
You support the motion.
I will ask Mr. Le Goff if he has enough time to prepare something for Thursday of this week. He is the one who prepares everything for us.
Committee Researcher
We have of course received information from Passport Canada. The way we see it is that the key problem with the passports is the distribution of volume. The urban regions are well-served by Passport Canada offices. The problem lies in the more remote or rural regions where there is to my mind an unduly high burden on members' offices.
During the meeting, Passport Canada was asked for data on volume, by postal code, for passports processed. That seems to be the key aspect for opening a new office. The office in Kelowna was opened based on volume. Data is currently lacking for Sudbury, Sherbrooke and in other offices. We do not have that data, but Passport Canada should be providing it.
If the committee wishes to make recommendations on adding new offices or service organizations, that should be based on volume data.
Bloc
Diane Bourgeois Bloc Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Madam Chair, we must bear one thing in mind. I was not at the last meeting, but because my daughter worked in Sherbrooke, I know what it means to issue an additional 10,000 passports per year without an additional budget. That means that the member for that riding cannot deal with other matters. He has three people on staff who do nothing but submit passports. During that time, the member cannot look after having additional staff or his employees.
Given what our budgets for the ridings are, if we have three or six employees, they don't all earn the same salaries. Employees are paid $28,000 or $30,000 a year, that is unacceptable. That is why I am saying that it makes no sense and that Passport Canada, relying precisely on the volume of passports by postal code, is falling back on this idea. The member's office is helping Passport Canada save money on the backs of the member's employees and on the quality of services the member provides. That is why Ms. Folco's proposal is so important.
Conservative
Daryl Kramp Conservative Prince Edward—Hastings, ON
As a member who, like a number of my colleagues around the table, deals with a pile of passports through our office, I'm in support of this motion. I think we can see a definitive sense of direction. The only concern I have right now is the matter of timing. Before Madam Folco came to this committee, we already had a fair bit of in-depth analysis and investigation on this. A lot of testimony has been given by everyone from the minister on down.
I wonder if our researcher could do either a compilation, an assessment, or an executive summary of what has taken place before this committee already on this issue--or maybe we should be doing this ourselves. If we can have that brought forward we would have a starting point, because where do we want to draw our witnesses from?
Let's focus on where we see those definite problems, and then we can move forward on that. But to go wide open on this...I don't want to repeat what we've already heard.