Mr. Speaker, this is how a young veteran in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith described dealing with Veterans Affairs. We should keep in mind that this is a young man who has served our country and has PTSD. He said that it is like being given a jigsaw puzzle and turning out the lights. How inhumane this is.
My constituency office is one of many across the country flooded with urgent requests for help accessing government services. It is not because these people do not qualify. It is because they simply cannot get through to government agencies or access the necessary information or forms they require. Many tell me that they feel as if they are being systematically stonewalled by the very agencies that supposedly exist to support them. Phone lines are jammed to the point that people are not even permitted to remain on hold or leave a message. Instead, they are advised to call back later, which yields the same result no matter what time of day they pick up the phone.
Insiders readily admit to my staff that some government agency phone trees are designed to send people in circles and eventually drop their call because the systems are too overloaded to handle the number of calls pouring in at any given moment. The agencies themselves are understaffed and under-resourced, leaving the remaining staff stretched so thin that they are scrambling to deal with the ever-growing backlog.
Wait times are stretching from days to weeks to months. Whether it is a simple callback, a much-needed refund, or an anxiously awaited application approval, Canadians are waiting longer and longer, and they are suffering undue stress and financial hardship as a result. I have heard from women trying to access employment insurance when they are on maternity leave or trying to access the Canada child benefit and feeling that they are being cross-examined by agencies for funding they are truly entitled to.
I hear of families separated by refugee status. In one family, the father was thought to be killed in war but has been discovered. His wife, now a refugee in Canada, applied to have the family reunification process take place. This young mother's children are now saying that they do not believe their father is alive because they have been waiting for so many years. Parents tell me that they are missing seeing their children grow up. It is heartbreaking and it is not fair.
Summertime was the worst. It is as if Service Canada did not anticipate that staff would be going away on holiday, and the phone lines were jammed worse than ever.
Canadians accustomed to reliable service are increasingly becoming disillusioned with our ability to help them navigate. The shift to online platforms makes it even worse for Canadians of all ages. Some get kicked back when it turns out they have accidentally filled out the wrong form. It is especially difficult for seniors and people with disabilities who do not have access to a computer or simply are not computer literate. They deeply resent being told they have to go to the web instead of dealing with a person at the front counter. Low-income Canadians and seniors, especially, are the people who should have the support they need from our government.
When will the government restore Canadians' faith in the system set up to serve them, and when will the federal government reinvest in the workers to provide this service?