Poilievre SLAMS Trudeau Liberals as Canadians reportedly sleep outside passport offices due to long wait times

Politicians and citizens have called on the government to fix the problem, but Service Canada has simply continued to blame a "backlog" in applications.

On Tuesday, Poilievre tweeted about a woman who submitted her passport application in April, but had still not received her documents. With only two days to go before her trip, she had slept in front of the passport office to increase her chances of success.

"The Trudeau government is offering you a new vacation deal," Poilievre quipped. "Apply for a passport and get a free camping trip at the passport office!"

Poilievre is one of many Conservative MPs who have spoken out against the Trudeau Liberals' handling of the situation.

On Monday, Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman got into a heated discussion with Ya'ara Saks, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development.

"Another week, and more chaos at our airports," Lantsman began, pointing out that "even if you want to go anywhere, getting a passport is turning into a Canadian-made nightmare."

"Over the last ten weeks, the 'surge' the government is talking about is only half of what it was before COVID," she continued. "So if no one was laid off, and no one at Passport Canada is working from home, will the minister responsible for the chaos tell us why anyone is still waiting for a passport they applied for in March?"

Saks doubled down on her "surge" claim, pointing out that Service Canada has hired 1,200 additional employees since fall of 2021, and that everyone was back at work, whether it be via telephone or physically in the office.

"Perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary can tell us what she thinks the word 'surge' actually means," Lantsman fired back, pointing out that Passport Canada has processed 48,000 documents this week whereas they used to process over 90,000 pre-COVID.

As the Vancouver Sun reports, the government has set up a new feature on their website letting applicants know how long the wait times will be, but there appears to be no end in sight to the processing backlog.