As of May 2015 minimum 1,500 Canadian passports have been produced under a defective new system and opened the door to fraud and tampering, according to documents obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada.
Internal records from Citizenship and Immigration Canada reveal the processing program was rushed into operation on May 9, 2015, despite warnings from senior officials that it was not ready since could present new security risks.
Since the launch of the new system, officials have been scrambling to fix hundreds of glitches and seal security gaps. Weeks after the new process was brought on line, there were calls to stop production.
Those recommendations were ignored, and the passports continue to be issued in the first phase of production under the new system, designed to enhance security and integrate with other global programs.
Passports could be changed after approval
Numerous reports show that it was possible for Citizenship and Immigration employees to alter the photo on a passport after it had been approved. There are also discrepancies between information contained in the database and what actually appeared on a passport.
In some cases, information disappeared from the system, making it difficult to verify if the applicant had used questionable guarantors or had made repeated claims of lost or stolen passports in the past.
Responding to the CBC report during a campaign event in Etobicoke, Ont., today, Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson said ensuring the Canadian passport is secure is a top priority. "Any mistake, any problems are quickly looked into and remedied.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said "Before bringing in something like Bill C-51 that seriously compromises our rights and freedoms in Canada, the government should take care of what already exists, like making sure that our passport system is solid, that it's solid and that it doesn't have any security leaks of its own," he said during an event in Montreal.
"The Canadian passport is, and will remain, one of the most secure travel documents in the world," said Nancy Caron in an emailed response. "CIC has been moving towards an increasingly integrated, modernized and centralized working environment across many of its business lines, including the passport program."
Risk to Canadians' safety
David Charland, a former analyst with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said the new system removes critical checks that could allow undesirables to enter Canada or radicals to exit the country. It could also create headaches for law-abiding Canadian travellers with mistakes on their passport caused by the new system. They could be held up at border points and even subject to interrogation, he warned.
The security gaps also open the door for organized criminals or extremists to crooked ministry employees to produce illegal passports, which are tremendously precious and in high demand in the global black market.
The ministry has recognized problems with the system, but said migration to the new process is being phased in to allow "course corrections" as necessary to ensure there are no security issues. Every file was reviewed for quality assurance, including photo authentication, according to the department.
