East Ottawa Star
Published: Friday, April 17, 2009 

Beating the passport crunch

As of June 1, you will need a valid Canadian passport to enter the United States by land or water in addition to this requirement for air travel.

At least Passport Canada is better prepared to deal with the anticipated rush of applications this spring as opposed to a few years back. In fact, Passport Canada officials were even singled out for praise, yes praise, in the most recent report from Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

For those of you who need to get your family’s passports for travel stateside this summer, the opportunity to avoid the downtown lineup arrives this weekend.

MP Royal Galipeau will hold another one of his constituency-based passport clinics. His staff and some volunteers have been trained by Passport officials to help you get your documents in order and submit your applications through his office.

The clinic will take place on Friday, April 17 from 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. and continue on Saturday, April 18th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mr. Galipeau’s Centrum Boulevard (behind the Empire Theatre in the city’s client service centre) office.

In speaking with Royal he noted that if everything goes smoothly and your paperwork is in order, it shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes or so to package everything up and get it ready to send to Passport Canada. A movie will even be running in the theatre right beside his office in the client centre complex to keep the kids entertained.

But before you attend the clinic, make sure you visit www.passport.gc.ca to download and print off all the required forms and follow the instructions clearly for getting your photos taken before you show up this weekend.

As well it is extremely important to ensure that you bring your guarantor with you and if you can’t, signed copies of their documentation must be provided. To help you with all this, MP Galipeau even has a dedicated passport number for your questions at 613-590-7489.

Indeed, a little advance planning, double-checking that you have all your documentation with you and asking questions of his office in advance if necessary, will ensure that your visit to this weekend’s clinic goes as smoothly as possible.

Oh and did I mention that parking is free? That’s another added bonus. Happy travels this summer to you and your family.

Picking up on last week’s column www.eastottawa.ca voting for the first-annual Orly awards is now underway for the best in Orléans comfort food. So far the new Lapointe’s leads for best fish and chips, Fritomania for best poutine and Gabriel’s and Mama Rosa’s are tied for best pizza. And I have now added a fourth Orly for best shawarma.

I will get out and sample as many of the nominees as possible. Nominations can be sent to orleansoutakes@transcontinental.ca. Winners will be announced in my May long weekend column. So vote early and eat often.