Portage couple face Passport nightmare as wrong documents are sent amid weekend travel plans – PortageOnline.com

A Portage la Prairie couple whose plans included leaving Canada this weekend faced an unfortunate series of events that disrupted their getaway.

Kristen Harley explains they applied for their passports in early to mid-October, expecting to receive them by early November. However, the Canada Post strike delayed the process.

“We were due to have them back in early November. Then, of course, with the Canada Post strike, we realized that wouldn’t be happening. So, right away, we got in touch with Passport Canada. We were told over and over that there wouldn’t be anything that could be done for us until—originally—we could contact them 10 days before travel. When I got in touch with Passport Canada 10 days before our trip, they said our case wasn’t urgent enough. We could try again five days before travel.”

At that five-day mark, they contacted Passport Canada again, only to be told their case still wasn’t urgent enough.

“We were told we could get in touch with them 24 hours before travel. At about the seven-days-before-travel point, we contacted Branden Leslie, our local MP. He stepped in from that point and began contacting Passport Canada directly. That’s been a big help. We’ve received calls late into the evening from people trying to resolve our case, but any information we received from them has been completely incorrect. They told us we’d have our passports by last Friday or Monday, but we didn’t.”

Harley says they contacted Leslie again on Monday, and he learned that the passports had never even been mailed.

“That was on Monday. They then mailed them on Tuesday morning, but the package couldn’t be delivered because we live in the country. That’s been an issue from the start. We were upset because, apparently, because we live rurally, we don’t have the same options as other Manitobans. Passport Canada told us we would have to travel to Winnipeg. So, Branden contacted them again.”

At that point, they arranged to have the passports delivered to a different address.

“My mother-in-law agreed to have them delivered to her place. They arrived last night (Wednesday). We had to pick them up at the local Purolator pickup. When we opened them, they weren’t our passports—they belonged to a family from Ontario. We were gobsmacked. That’s just a massive security breach! When you contact Passport Canada, the first thing they say is that if your passport is lost or stolen, you must contact them immediately for security reasons. It’s almost laughable.”

Harley adds that the situation raises serious questions about what happens when passports for the wrong family are mailed.

“Essentially, no one has been able to tell us what happens next. We have this family’s passports. Luckily, I tracked them down on social media and let them know where their passports were. We made a plan for what to do with theirs. My spouse went to the passport office in Winnipeg today with their passports to try to get our passports fast-tracked. He was told our case was priority number one and was the first person taken in this morning. Still, they said our case wasn’t urgent enough. Now they’ll try to print them within 24 hours. But, since we’re not traveling until Sunday, others who are traveling sooner have priority. What about the fact that someone else has our passports? What if the other family’s passports ended up in the wrong hands? That could have been a very different story.”

She notes they were told nothing could be done, and they may never know where their passports are or who has them.

“At this point, we’re waiting to hear from them. Hopefully—fingers crossed—we can travel back to Winnipeg tomorrow to pick them up. Everyone I’ve spoken to has said they’ve never heard of anything like this happening in their experience. Who knows if that’s true? But it’s concerning that they stress how important it is to report lost or stolen passports, yet they seem so careless with the ones they have. I feel for the other family who is also in a similar situation, but at least they know their passports are secure now. We, unfortunately, don’t know that.”

Harley adds that her passport isn’t involved in the mix-up, only her husband’s and their two children’s passports. She says it’s disconcerting that their most personal information, which could be used for identity theft, is now out there.

“Your passport has anything anyone might need!”

Another frustration, she says, is the fact that her husband went to the passport office to apply for Emergency Services.

“They’ve told us that if our passports do arrive, they likely won’t be valid. If they do arrive tonight, we’ll have to destroy them and still go to Winnipeg tomorrow to pick up the passports that may or may not be ready in time for us to travel. It would be great if they get returned to us, but we’re not holding out much hope.”

Harley stresses that the issue wasn’t simply an address error for a nearby residence.

“There doesn’t seem to be any connection, aside from the fact that we received three passports and applied for three passports. That’s the only similarity between the two orders.”

~With files from Jared Thiessen