Human Resources Committee on Feb. 14th, 2023

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Yes. We are looking into this, and I can say that one of the first things I asked about when I became minister was how we determined where passport offices were located. It had been a really long time since we had expanded those services. I'm pleased to say that we have 13 additional Service Canada offices across the country—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

—and we'll continue to expand them.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Those upgrades weren't for urgent.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

They were for 10-day service, which was still something that wasn't available to those folks. We have—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

This is my time, Minister. Thank you. This is my time.

What I'm asking is for you to table for the committee what the metrics are in order to justify increasing to an urgent passport office. Do you have metrics?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mrs. Gray, we would be happy to do that.

The other thing I can say is that until recently, or actually for a little while longer, we were limited by that because of the current printers we have. We are working to upgrade them to make sure we can provide that urgent service to folks right across this country.

I can assure you that I am going to take your community into consideration.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you.

Based on what I've mentioned to you today, and based on all the information that I've provided to you today, will you commit to upgrading Kelowna's passport office to provide urgent pickup service?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Again, Mrs. Gray, we'll have to get back to you. What I can say is that we are looking across the network right now at where we need to have urgent service and where we need to have additional 10-day service—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

I'll be following up with you again.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

—and I can assure you that we'll take this into consideration.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister. My time is up.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Thank you, Mrs. Gray.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mrs. Gray and Ms. Gould.

We'll now go to the government for the final five minutes.

Mr. Van Bynen, go ahead, please.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Gould, I'm one of the individuals who took early advantage of the 10-year renewal for passports. I'm eager to see where we'll be going with that. Then I'd like to share my time with Ms. Zarrillo so that we can clarify the motion she was contemplating earlier.

Can you give me a very brief summary of what advice you would have for Canadians who might be applying for renewals as part of the 10-year cohort? Do you feel you're ready to handle the volume?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Yes, certainly.

I think it's really important because there was some confusion, particularly from the Conservatives, about when the 10-year renewal was happening. They seemed to indicate that it was last year, but that's actually not the case because the first 10-year passports were issued in 2013. Last year had nothing to do with the 10-year renewal, despite what the Conservatives were saying.

This July will be the first time that there will be renewals for the 10-year passports. Because of the doubling of the workforce, the changes in the passport system and the additional offices that are providing services, we feel very confident with Service Canada that we can manage this volume.

We also have a simplified renewal process for anyone who had a passport issued in the last 15 years. I think Canadians can have quite a bit of confidence when it comes to renewing their passports, whether they are part of that first 10-year cohort or any other time.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

We certainly faced an unprecedented pandemic. That's led to a number of the changes you are implementing.

Are there any specific changes that you feel will have a significant impact on that service delivery?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Certainly.

There were a lot of changes. Implementing a triage system at passport offices and improving line management was really important, particularly at the height of the crisis, but it continues in busy offices to this day. There are also internal processes to make sure that things are more efficient.

Ensuring that we have adequate staff is the number one issue. The passport system did not have the capacity a year ago to handle the volume that it saw starting in February 2022, so these are important changes.

We've also enabled the network to speak more to each other in a way that it didn't before.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

I think I've run out of my time. I'll share the rest with Ms. Zarrillo.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

You have 15 seconds to share.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I really appreciate it because it wasn't clear in the information. It says that we are going to commence the study on March 7, but it doesn't have any timing.

Mr. Chair, I'd like to move a motion. I move:

That the committee amend its study on Bill C-35, an Act respecting early learning and child care in Canada, by amending the motion adopted on Friday, February 3, 2023, to hold a 2-hour technical briefing on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, with the relevant department officials, that the committee invite the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, accompanied by officials, to appear for one hour on Friday, March 10, 2023, and for the witnesses from the list provided by committee members to appear during the following hour.

That adds clarity, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Ms. Martinez Ferrada, you have the floor.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Indeed, I think this needs to be clarified. I thank my colleague for bringing this motion forward.

I think that the bilateral agreements we have with all the provinces and territories need to be looked at from a jurisdictional perspective. On our side, we agree to have a two-hour technical briefing on Tuesday, March 7, and to invite the minister to testify for one hour on Friday, March 10.

Since time is running out and another minister is waiting to appear before us, I ask for a vote on the motion. I think the motion is quite clear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Is there any discussion?

Mrs. Gray.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Do we have that motion in writing?