2 hours in no man's land: The trouble with customs at Montreal's Trudeau airport

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is asking Ottawa to act after another long wait for passengers at Trudeau airport Tuesday evening highlighted a chronic problem: hours-long delays at customs.

Coderretold reporters Wednesday he contacted TransportMinister MarcGarneau, theMP forNotre-Dame-de-GrceWestmount,to address the issue, saying it"makes no sense."

He said with an increasing number of direct flights to Montreal, more border agents must be assignedto Trudeau airportto handle the extra passenger load.

• Border services agents protest job cuts at Montreal's Trudeau airport

Dominic Fugre, the head of theTrois-RiviresGrand Prix, saidit took twohours and 15 minutes from the time he stepped off the plane to the time he left the airport.

Fugre, who travels often, said Tuesday's problems were nothing new, and long waits such as what he experiencedgive visitors a poor firstimpression of Montreal.

"They just said there was a higher-than-normal volume of clients," Fugresaid in an interview.

Union blames lack of staffing

The headof Canada'sCustoms and Immigration Union, which represents border service agents at Trudeau airport,said there's "obviously a lack of staffing" at the airport.

Jean-Pierre Fortinsaid recent job cutsimposedby the former Conservative government are partly to blame.

"We need more staff, that's for sure, but also I think flights need to spread out more,"Fortin said.

In a statement, a spokesman for the federal minister of public safety said the government "understands the frustrations of travellers who have had to wait extended periods, often after lengthy international flights."

"Officials continue to work with all involved agencies to determine how toensure the proper screening of everyone entering the country while reducing inconveniences to travelers," said Scott Bardsley.