Evidence of meeting #26 for Public Accounts in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was passports.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I don't have any questions, so calm down.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I just have one comment and then I'll pass my time, Chair.
Deputy, you mentioned in passing that 2007 was a near-death experience. I choose to believe that part of that was being hauled in front of this committee and being held to account for that report.
The reason I say this is that it reminded me, as one of those among us who had the opportunity to mentor under John Williams, who was for so long Mr. Public Accounts and Mr. Accountability, that one of his expressions—I'll just pass it along, and I'm paraphrasing—was that this committee will know it has succeeded and has reached the proper level of performance when a deputy, upon receiving notification that there's a command performance in front of public accounts and that they are going to be held accountable...it should ruin their entire week.
When you said it was a near-death experience, I was reminded that maybe we're getting closer to achieving Mr. Williams' target.
I'm good. Thanks, Chair.
Liberal
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I'm looking at a statement here in Madam Desloges's report: 99% of applications were processed within published processing times. I've worked at small companies—one-person operations, under 20, under 200—and at Bell Canada for 14 years, and have rarely seen a situation in which they meet 99%. That exceeds most private sector performance, and I think you've done it by innovating. You got $55 million and you innovated, and it's really outstanding performance.
I want to ask you briefly what your published timeframe is to issue a passport and how it compares with that of other countries—Japan, the United States, Britain perhaps.
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
In terms of our published standards, for in-person service it is ten working days. For mail-in applications--other channels, recipient agents--it's 20 days.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
How does that compare with the United States, Japan, and Britain, for example?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
If you compare with the United States, it would be six weeks. If you compare with other countries, we are doing pretty well. You're looking at ten business days in person, plus shipping and delays, in Australia. You're looking at something similar in New Zealand, as well as in the U.K.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Would it be safe to say you're at the top in performance terms?
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
Thank you.
You're losing about $7 per passport. Now, you're not a profit structure, but it's costing you $7 per passport more than you get back. I'm wondering if you have any ways--you don't want to be complacent--to reduce costs, so maybe you can become totally break-even in the future. Or in terms of revenue opportunities, do you do any printing for any other government bodies that need secure printing, whereby you can use excess hours or get new revenues from the existing resources?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
This is a good question, sir. In terms of looking at how we can reduce cost, we are doing it on a very regular basis, because we have not had a rise in the fee for the last eight years. What it means is that every three months we diligently go through budgets to make sure that we can optimize returns from our investment.
As to the possibility of exploring other sources of revenues and business, I think this is something that we would need to do. Honestly, I've been in the job for two months, so I.... We have not looked at that yet.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
I'm not suggesting you do anything drastically different, don't get me wrong; I was just wondering.
What are the challenges you face in the future? If you get a rise in demand, what might make it occur?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
We are experiencing a rise in demand right at the moment.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
In the longer term, do you have any other challenges with a rise in demand?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
It's not as much a rise in demand as it is dealing with the fluctuations, because there are certain patterns when Canadians travel. Typically, it starts in October. Because people like to travel in the winter months, you have an increase in the demand. Typically, the demand would slow down in the months of March and April, and things would quieten down.
So in terms of challenges, it would be adjusting to the fluctuation in demand.
Conservative
Terence Young Conservative Oakville, ON
It's like that throughout the year, yes.
The only complaint I get is that people would like to see a ten-year passport. Can you explain the electronic ten-year passport? Is it going to provide people with a passport they can use for ten years in Canada?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
That is the purpose, sir.
Why an electronic passport? It's because there is a chip inside the passport that would have the information you have on page 3 of the passport. That's the tombstone data plus the picture, so as to enhance security. It would be coupled, of course, with facial recognition, which Madam Thomas was mentioning, as well as with a greater scrutiny of our databases to make sure that we protect Canadians' identities. There is great concern around identity theft, so we have to make sure that people are who they say they are.
Liberal
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Thank you.
I want to go back to staffing levels, if I may. Now that the peak is over—it's June 9, not June 1 anymore—you mentioned that you would be operating at a short-term deficit. Do staffing levels ebb and flow? Are there full-time equivalents, either part-time staff whom you let go or contract workers whom you bring in when you need them?
Chief Executive Officer, Passport Canada
What I think our forecasts are telling us is that this year is going to be a pretty steady, high-volume year. And it's going to be the whole year, because people will wake up one morning and say, “Let's go on a trip to X. Let's take the family on a holiday.”
Liberal
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Do you mean even with the economy the way it is?
