Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Vivian Hermansen, the constituent who put forward petition e-3281, which I am pleased to table today with 1,164 signatures.
The petitioners point out that the Government of Canada's website says that the processing time for a secure certificate of Indian status is sixteen weeks when they know that it is between six months and two years, which, happily, the government corrected when it saw this petition. They are concerned that the process to receive a Canadian passport is on average 20 business days and that systemic racism is continuing to be perpetrated by the government, saying that its most important relationship is with indigenous communities.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Government of Canada to explore all options, including alternative solutions such as the hiring of additional staff dedicated to processing applications for a secure certificate of Indian status in a timely fashion, and that it take no longer than the equivalent time needed to process a Canadian passport, namely, 20 business days.