Task Force Assemble!

My passport expired late last year. I waited and went to the post office to mail my application in February. I got the passport a month later. Too many people didn't bother in the winter and now we've got long queues.

As passport processing delays and long lineups persist at Service Canada offices, the federal government is looking to buy 801 chairs for people standing in line by the end of this week.

That precise number made me laugh. Of course, Prime Minister Zoolander is doing his very best to get to the root of this problem:

The request for the additional seating was posted just days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the formation of a special cabinet committee "task force to improve government services."

The 10 ministers on the committee have been tasked with tackling the "unacceptable" backlogs with immigration and passport applications, though with no clear timelines attached to this task.

The geezers are on it!

It's a simple supply issue. The government didn't forecast the spike in demand and so they didn't bother hiring and training sufficient numbers of workers. At least, it's still possible to apply and get a new passport in 48 hours. There are certain federal government applications where the response time is not measured in hours, days, weeks, or months! It takes years for a bureaucrat to even look at your documents. Why doesn't the government charge higher fees and employ more people to speed up that process? Can't even think of an answer.