North Vancouver mom says Passport Canada made her teen feel useless

A mom in North Vancouver says her daughter was in tears after a call with Passport Canada this week – saying the agent didn’t know how to accommodate the teen’s disability.

Tracy Miller says her daughter Alison has Fragile X Syndrome — similar to Down syndrome — and needs her help applying for a new passport.

Tracy says during two previous attempts to complete her application through the phone Alison was told by agents not to ask her mom for answers to their questions – things like postal code and birthdate, so she tried calling on her own on Tuesday.

“They started asking her questions and she said, ‘I’m only 16, I have a disability and I don’t understand,’ the person just continued to repeat themselves with the same question… Then he referred her to the Canadian Passport Web page, which she said again, ‘I don’t understand what you want. Can you not talk to my mom?’ And he said, ‘No.'”

“She said that person made her feel very stupid. She was really upset. She didn’t want to phone them again.”

Tracy says Alison hung up the phone upset. She says her and her son’s passports are also nowhere to be found either, alleging Passport Canada gave her a tracking number that doesn’t exist.

“I don’t have any ID for my kids except for their Care Cards, which don’t have photos on them. So it’s been three months with no ID for my children and only my driver’s license for myself,” she said.

The Executive Director of Disability Alliance BC, Helaine Boyd, says many people have come to the organization having experienced discrimination while accessing government services.

“I think what that boils down to is the lack of understanding and awareness that government and businesses have in terms of the Canadian human rights Act and the B.C. Human Rights Code… when someone has declared their disability and they requested an accommodation that they need to do all reasonable efforts to meet that accommodation.”

When people run into accessibility barriers, Boyd recommends they request a duty to accommodate – and if that doesn’t work, file a complaint.

Tracy says she has done that and plans to call Passport Canada again on Monday.

CityNews has reached out to Employment and Social Development Canada for comment on the matter.

Miller has these words for the passport agent:

“Shame on you for being so heartless and literally breaking the little girl’s heart.”