Passport crisis: Another day of pure chaos

The passport crisis is now spreading to all four corners of the province and hundreds of camps are stuck with the decision to spend the night in front of the federal office on Tuesday.

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“It’s a miracle. I’m finally relieved and happy to have this simple piece of paper. There are clear people inside, crying when they receive it,” Ellie Peruch proudly branched out her passport.

After waiting two nights and more than 38 hours in front of the Service Canada office in the Guy-Favreau complex in Montreal, she finally received the valuable document at 5 p.m.

But she had already started a new race against time, this time arriving at the airport. Her flight to Italy, where she was going to visit her family and friends, departed at 7:30 pm on Tuesday.

Others were not so lucky: “I came here [lundi] 7 p.m. I’m tired, we can not really sleep and we know it’s going to be the same again tonight, ”said Ellis Gowdett.

The mother will travel to Europe on Wednesday with her small family after a two-year epidemic.

A noise

Several campers described the chaotic scene when security guards opened the doors of the Guy-Fauro complex on Tuesday morning.

There were 300 people who entered the building without knowing where to go, without any indication for 3 hours until the Service Canada offices opened, Ms. Goudett explained.

“In the beginning, people followed a certain order. Then the security guards announced that you have to go downstairs for the passports. So everyone got started, no longer following the line. Everyone is tired and not really happy, “said Maxim Reynolds-Blonde.

Lack of organization

For his part, Matthew Messier returned home empty-handed after spending Monday night outside, as the office only accepts requests from those going abroad within the next 24 hours.

“On the site, it said, ‘For those who leave in 24 to 48 hours.’ On the spot, no one informed me, so I wasted one night with nothing, ” he said.

At 4pm on Tuesday, he finally got his young man’s passport for a trip to France. “I’m going to buy 6/49,” he said, putting his camping chair on his shoulder and leaving.

“The majority of people here, not to put their feet in the water, go to see loved ones,” said Sabrina A.

After two years of epidemic, the Algerian nurse has only one wish: to hug her mother and sister and rest with them before the next Kovid wave.

Greater Montreal residents also have the idea of ​​driving to Sagune in hopes of having better luck in the area. So they were in the hundreds, some of them far from Laval, gathered in front of the Chikotimi office on Tuesday.

Minister Kareena Gould, who is in charge of the file, promised to distribute numbered tickets to citizens who are now on the line during a series of interviews on Tuesday evening. The policy will be implemented in all passport offices during the week. Between March and May, 350,000 passports were backlogged.

-With TVA News