How do you prove who you are? A 19-year-old Tsawwassen, B.C. woman has been trying for months to get her passport, only to be told none of her identifications are good enough.
“I need a passport to get an ID, but I need an ID to get a passport. I’m stuck between literally like a rock and a hard place,” said Madison Stalling, who detailed to CityNews her ongoing struggle to secure some sort of identification.
After months of trying, the woman now worries it just won’t happen.
“I brought my expired Nexus, they said that wouldn’t work either. I literally have zero up-to-date identification, so what am I supposed to do?”
Stalling turned 19 earlier this year. Like most 19-year-olds, she was excited to be of age and go out with her friends. But she doesn’t get to do that because, for the last two months, she says she’s been going back and forth with Service Canada, trying to get a passport or some kind of photo ID.
She says she has sent in her birth certificate and her expired passport.
“(But) the Service Canada people called me and they said that I needed to send in my expired passport, which they already have,” Stalling recounted, adding she also tried to get a new Care Card with her picture on it, but that would require her passport to prove her identity.
“I am so angry, to say the least. I have a billion other things to do and this is not what I need right now. I thought sending in the stuff I have to prove that, hey, it’s me, that would be enough.”
CityNews has reached out to Employment Social Development Canada for comment.
Passport delays
Meanwhile, major delays in getting Canadian passports have been reported in recent weeks, ahead of the further easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Some people have told CityNews they’ve spent hours trying to get through over the phone. Others have reported waiting in line for so long that the office was closed before they were even able to speak with anyone.
Stalling says she can’t imagine what it would be like for marginalized communities, many of whom have fewer identifying documents than she does.
“I definitely don’t think that I’m the only one. It’s just a super weird experience. Like who are you even supposed to go to for help? The government’s saying this but now they’re saying this. Literally what are you supposed to do?” she asked.
The Tsawwassen woman says that while she’s at her wits’ end, she’s going to make one more desperate try to prove to the government she is who she says she is.
“I’m going to send in every single identification I have. My Care Cards, my expired Care Cards, my citizen abroad … It’s just ridiculous,” Stalling said. “I’m just going to try everything and hopefully that will work. If it doesn’t then I can’t get the passport.”