Feds. pull plug on passport service in Rainy River

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Getting your passport in Rainy River just got a little bit harder.
Up until March 31, 2008 residents were able to take advantage of an agreement signed in 2004 between Passport Canada and Services Ontario. It allowed Services Ontario offices to offer passport application services while Service Canada Centres were established or expanded.
As of March 31st the final four of the Service Ontario offices providing the service, Rainy River, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Wawa, were told they could no longer offer the service.
In this region a Service Canada Centre was opened in Fort Frances last year and officials with Passport Canada told Thunder Bay-Rainy River Member of Parliament Ken Boshcoff that people have the choice to take their applications to that centre or mail them in. Application forms are available at Canada Post in Rainy River or on the internet.
With a high percentage of seniors in the Rainy River area and no bus service to Fort Frances, Boshcoff said he sympathizes with those who are unable to travel the 60 miles to take their application in.
With Rainy River being right on the border with Baudette, Minnesota and the two communities being so intertwined, and the impending Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (June 1, 2009), unless something changes anyone wanting to cross into the United States after that date will need a passport.
WHTI has been in the works for several years since the Sept. 11th attacks in 2001. However, the I.D. requirement has been pushed back several times.
Boshcoff said he is writing a letter to the Minister responsible for Passport Canada urging them to reinstate this vital service in Rainy River until WHTI is in full effect.
Rainy River Mayor Debbie Ewald said that she too will be penning a letter to the minister to the same effect. “I am upset about another thing being taken away and the inconvenience it causes (our residents).”
The decision to pull the plug on the Service Ontario passport program was made by the new CEO of Passport Canada Gerard Cossette. According to information obtained by Boshcoff’s office, “The biggest factor in this decision is that Service Ontario and Passport Canada had no formal agreement. This service or “Service Ontario” is unique to our Province and the CEO feels that this puts other provinces at an unfair advantage.”
According to Boschoff, Johane Krueger, Manager of Passport Canada in Thunder Bay was advised in mid-February that the service would end March 31st. However, there was no public notice in any of the local media letting the public know it was ending.
Kenora-Rainy River Member of Provincial Parliament Howard Hampton expressed his dismay with that fact to the Record Sunday evening, “You would think that they would give the public notice.” Instead people that went to the Rainy River Services Ontario office last Monday were told they no longer offer the service.
Jean Sebastien, communications officer with Passport Canada, told the Record Monday that it was originally a three year agreement between his agency and Services Ontario signed in 2004. He does not feel there is any hope that the service will be reinstated or extended until WHTI is fully implemented. He did note that mailed in applications are currently taking about 20 days to process (not including mailing time). He also said that people do not need to apply for their passport in person but if they so choose to they can use the office in Fort Frances or any other Service Canada or Passport Canada office.
Moe Fenlin, Regional Director of Services Ontario (Thunder Bay) said that the passport service was “basically a pilot project and we were told it would not be renewed.”