Mr. Speaker, P.E.I. congratulates Saskatchewan.
For years now, Prince Edward Islanders have been putting up with inadequate passport services. With the new rules requiring Canadians to have passports to travel to the United States, the demand far outstrips available services.
It is unacceptable that Prince Edward Island continues to be the only province without a passport office. Receiving agents are not enough. They can only review applications, not process them.
Islanders who need a passport on short notice still have to drive to Halifax or Fredericton. This is not a short trip. It is approximately a 700 to 800 kilometres round trip, and there is the toll cost for the Confederation Bridge.
When the passport requirements extend to land border crossings next summer, the demand for passports will be massive. Opening an office in P.E.I. would reduce the workload in the other regional offices, would make it easier for Islanders to get their passports, and would free up constituency office workers to do constituency office work.