Hon. Raymonde Gagné (Legislative Deputy to the Government Representative in the Senate): Senator Carignan, would you take a question?

Senator Carignan: Thank you, leader. I would like to read from a message a citizen sent me:

Dear senator, I am supposed to go to Morocco with my son this Thursday. He applied for his passport on April 13 and was supposed to get it on May 20. I called for a status update two weeks ago. After waiting two hours to speak with someone, I was told the file had been transferred to the Laval office and that we would get an update by May 20. No word on May 20. This morning, I am at the Saint-Laurent office. We are supposed to leave in 48 hours. It is 6:21 in the morning, and look at the lineup, which is unacceptable. Can you do something about this?

I replied, “Wow!” Here’s what he wrote back:

Mr. Senator, this is chaos. After waiting for eight hours and thanks to my own resourcefulness, I managed to get a passport a few hours before my departure.

How will the government be compensating people who, like this individual, were put through this utterly unacceptable stress or, worse still, missed their trip and their departure altogether?

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Pardon the interruption, Senator Carignan. Are you asking for five more minutes?

Senator Carignan: Certainly.

Senator Carignan: Yes.

Hon. Claude Carignan: Would Senator Cormier take another question?

Hon. Claude Carignan: Would Senator Cormier take another question?