Long lines, waning patience as Service Ontario slashes hours

Seventy-five minutes before the Service Ontario office at 1800 Bank St.was due to open its doors Thursday morning, there were 75 people waiting in line to get in.

They'd brought lawn chairs, books andsnacksand were settled in for thelong wait. The people at the front of the linesaid they'd arrived at 6:30 a.m., three and a half hours before opening time. Many said it was the second day in arow they'd shown upafter being turned away the day before.

"I think this is crazy, and it has to come to a stop," said April Lacroix, an Ottawa mother of eight who was waiting to renew her driver's licence.

Many Service Ontario locations have either closedor drastically reduced their hours during the pandemic. A sign on the door at 1800 Bank St. says it's now open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday just eight hours a week.

Things are so bad, the provincial ministry responsible is urging people to stay awayunless absolutely necessary.

Online alternatives

To help ease the lineups, the province hasextended expiry dates on a number of itemsincluding driver's licences, health cards and vehicle plate stickers. Many services can now be accessed online, including licence and health card renewals, as well asbirth, death and marriage certificates.

But many of the people who spoke toCBCon Thursday said they were unaware of thosemeasures. Others reported having issues when they tried to renew alicence online, among themLacroix, who said the website only gaveher error messages.

"It ain't working, period," said Lacroix, who's worried about getting a fine for driving with an expired licence."When it's taking so long to be seen, that's ridiculous."

By 9:30 a.m. half an hour before opening time the lineup outside 1800 Bank St. had grown to 100 and snaked through the parking lot, making it difficult for people to observe physical distancing, and far exceeding the province's own ban on groups larger than five.

"I understand there's challenges with opening up, with workers' safety, but this is also public safety, and so Ithink there should be some consideration there," said Matthew Marchand, also in line for the second consecutive morning after being turned away Wednesday.

Marchand was there to get updated stickers for his licence plates, and said he didn't think the online option was available tohim. When he arrived at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, there were already dozens of people in line ahead of him.

"I just think a system where they did appointmentsor something would kind of mitigate this, because if we have a second wave [of COVID-19]and it's in winter, I can't imagine this being feasible at all," he said.

Ford calls for offices to reopen

The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services declined an interview, but said in a statementit takes the health of both its employees and customers "very seriously."

"To help ensure the safety of employees and customers, we have urged our customers not to visit a ServiceOntario unless absolutely necessary, and have introduced measures to limit the need to visit a centre," the ministry said.

"For transactions where an in-person visit is necessary, we have introduced measures to ensure the safety of staff and clients."

Those measures include enhanced cleaning routines, pre-screening of clients, enforcing physical distancing, adjusting staff schedules and bringing insecurity guards, the ministry said, adding it's"actively involved" in planning to open more centres.

Asked about the long lineups during a news conference Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said he'd like to see more Service Ontario locations reopened.

"Let's open these up. Practise social distancing. [Ontarians] have to get their sticker, they have to get their pictures for their licence. Let's start opening them up," Ford said.

Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden said he's been hearing from constituents who are concerned about the long lines.

"Thegovernment has indicated that there is no rush for people to get in those lines and extend their driver's licencesor healthcards at Service Ontario locations. So if people are queuing up for that, with a fear of those cards expiring, those fears can be allayed," Harden said.

John Fraser, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa South, also told people not to be concerned. He said he hopes the kiosks will have officials on hand, even before opening hours, to ensure physical distancing is respected in line.

"I'd argue if there are going to be lineups, you have to take responsibility.So someone has to be there at, you know, seveno'clock in the morning. It's a matter of public safety," Fraser said.