Conservative Party MP Luc Berthold says Canadians are facing a major problem. That problem is Service Canada..During a recent question period in the House of Commons, Berthold raised a major problem Canadians are facing: the endless delays in getting service from the federal government. Passports, employment insurance, the Canada Revenue Agency, and immigration.."Absolutely everything is in shambles," Berthold told the Speaker of the House.."As usual, the prime minister avoided answering the question, turning his back on thousands of Canadians who are waiting and waiting. There is a solution, namely bringing federal employees back to work at their offices, as most Canadian businesses have done. When will the prime minister make Service Canada worthy of its name again?".Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland replied by saying: "Our government understands very well how important it is to serve Canadians, especially now that our economy is in full recovery.".Freeland told parliament that she didn't totally agree with what Berthold said. She doesn't believe "everything is going poorly in Canada."."The reality is, according to the International Monetary Fund, we will have the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year and next," Freeland stressed. "We have hard-working Canadians to thank for that.".Berthold quickly replied: "it is very disturbing to see that the deputy prime minister and minister of Finance has no interest in the services her government is providing to Canadians."."Public servants themselves are telling Canadians to call their MP's office to gain access to services. We knew the first 10-year passports were set to expire this year," Berthold said.."Before the pandemic, Service Canada was processing three-million passports a year. We are just getting back to normal. Federal employees have been caught off guard because this government has done no planning. Misplaced documents, overwhelmed telephone systems, the list of excuses goes on and on. Can the prime minister give some hope that someone is taking care of this and tell us when federal employees will be back in their offices serving people?".Freeland seemed to dodge Berthold's question to the house by pulling at the heartstrings of Canadians as she began to express thanks for government workers for serving the public.."They are helping Canadians here and across the country," Freeland said..The deputy PM told the House she even took the time to thank Department of Finance employees in person for their excellent work.."I know public servants across the country work very hard," Freeland said. "I think everyone in the House should be grateful for their efforts.".However, the deputy PM's reply was not enough for Berthold. He told Freeland what federal employees want is to feel as though their government supports them.."They want to serve Canadians," Berthold said. "They want to be proud of their work at the end of the day because they have the tools they need to provide the services that Canadians expect. This government is improvising and making it so that the federal employees we are so proud of are unable to do their jobs.".Berthold then went on the attack and raised the same question to the deputy PM: "Will the prime minister finally authorize federal employees to go back to their offices so that they can serve Canadians?".Once again Freeland dodged the question and emphasized how truly proud the Liberals are of their public service and of all the federal government employees who are doing an amazing job. "They did great work throughout the pandemic," Freeland said. "I want to assure public servants we are there to help them do what they want to do, and that is to help Canadians."
