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Clé4 - Sunday; March 25, 1994 - North Shore: News

would keep Canadians.at home-in greater

Y= MIGHT think that the current recession
numbers than ever before.-And;you’d be

wrong. Fhe Vancouver Regional Passport Office
reports an increase of over 5,000 passports for their

1984 year end, March 30.

By that date, they will have
issned a whopping 65,000 of

fice appreciates the co-.
operation’ they get from the

documents in the past 12
months. Considering that

are valid for five
years, the lower mainland of

B.C. has an enormous
number of potential
travellers.

Before 1970, Canadians
wishing to travel abroad had
to mail their documents to
Ottawa and wait three to five
weeks for processing. The
first three regional offices —
Montreal, Toronto and Van-
couver, soon took over 30 per
cent of the nation’s passport
issuing. In 1984, sixteen
regional offices handle 7
cent of all passports.

The local office guarantees
that you will receive your
completed passport- in just
three working days from the
time you bring your forms
and photos into the office.
They don’t accept mailed

Orns 22 -£Hew..

™y)

errors that crop up.

When you appear in per-
son, the forms are checked
on the spot and your birth

certificate or proof of citizen- -

ship is returned to you. Not
that I want to disparage the
services of Canada Post but |
like to ‘keep my birth cer-
tificate in my wallet. Ottawa
still accepts mailed forms but
the wise traveller, uses his
local office. Another person
may appear for you if you
cant come in yourself.

It is interesting, though,
that Ottawa is reporting far
fewer errors today than in the
past. Are Canadians getting
smarter or are the newer
forms easier to follow? .

Ted Woodyard, director of
the Vancouver Passport Of-

‘Instead of simply assuming

that anyone buying a ticket to
Bongo-Bongo has a passport,
they check.

Many ask that the traveller
brings his passport into the
office so they can not only
check the “existence of the

2s

travel-

staff to handle the inevitable

passpo ‘expiry

**We can’t do very much to
help a guy at the airport who
discovers his passport expired
last Tuesday,’’
‘Woodyard.

“‘Il don’t understand why
people with relatives overseas
don't keep a current passport
at all times. It’s almost in-
evitable that some emergency
will crop up where they’ll
have to make a quick trip
back. We certainly try our
best

wi os? hot/cold

woes

“Heal r

or MASK

Stop suffering of sinus

headaches

stuffy nose, head colds, allergies

“Chill it

soothe tension headaches weary

eyes, morning-after miseries

soothingly
pnced al

$4595

922-9650
844 Park Royal North —
Richmond Centre Mall 276-2606

“McCreadie. ~~

Says. ~

in emergencies but

The wise traveller keeps it .
with him.
Ted Woodyard recom-
mends that everyone makes a
note of his passport number
__500 and date of issue and keeps it
documents a day in thesetwo _in a safe place. I go one step
months, The staff also field —

500 telephone calls daily, aid- en .

there’s bound to be some
delay.”’

March and April are the
busiest months in the
passport office. The staff of
three —precess— about

answers some “of “the most
common questions. Many of
the callers are checking to see
that their passport is indeed
ready before they come to
pick it up. Woodyard assured
me that there’s no need to

“You'll have a
better chance

call — if you were told Tues- .
day at 8 a.m. you can count than if your
on it.

current address
is the B.C.
Pen.”’

I'd always assumed that a
criminal record effectively
zapped your chances of ob-
taining a passport. This may
not necessarily be true.
Naturally, you'll have a bet-
ter chance if the conviction
was minor and a number of
years back than if your cur-
rent address is the B.C. Pen.

Also, if you've got a trial
date coming up, better forget
about applying for a pass-
port. ‘‘We have to assume
that anyone wanting a pass-
port is planning on going

further and photocopy the
entire first page (along with
my driver’s licence, birth cer-
tificate and all my credit

Woodyard. Although the
system of checking applicants
isn’t made public the record
proves that it works.

What about lost passports?
+t -happens- and-—Canadians:
can be stranded abroad.
There are 110 posts world-
wide to help and they are
listed in a booklet given to
you along with your pass-
port, Bon Voyage, But —.

lot). 1 keep one copy i in my
suitcase, give one: to my
travel companion and leave
another at home.

The normal 24-page

a very frequent traveller you
may need additional space
for visas. For you, there is a
48-page model, costing $23.

N

NORTH VANCOUVER
SCHOOL BOARD

invites registration in
kindergarten, elementary and
secondary grades of the
PROGRAMME - CADRE
de FRANCAIS
for the school year 1984-1985

This program is open to all district fran-
'cophone students of kindergarten, elemen-
tary and secondary school age. A non fran-
cophone child could be admitted to grade 7,
8 or 9 if he/she has sufficient competency in
French to receive instruction at that level.

Further information can be obtained from
Donald Fraser, Coordinator of Modern
Languages (987 8141). Registration forms
are available at LARSON Elementary
School, 2605 Larson Road (984-0447) and
BALMORAL Junior High School 3365
Mahon (987-9394).

PROGRAMME CADRE
OPEN HOUSE
on March 29, 1984
at LARSON Elementary School

.. pired passports as souvenirs.

‘them uneasy is uncancelled

passport-costs-$21. 1f-you’re - --{-

Although many countries -;

have stopped stamping pass. : INFORMATION PH: 687-1818

‘ports at border crossings, |
most of us like to keep ex- |

You. must: request ‘to have . Tg
your passport cancelled and ;
returned or the passport of- WAIKIKI “ $359
-fice will routinely destroy ex- Air only
WAIKIKI $504

pired ones. -
8 Days, 7 Nights, Air & Hotel

Officially, the government
LAS VEGAS $305

would prefer to destroy
themi. What really ‘makes

5 Days, 4 Nights, Air & Hotel
RENO $249

expired passports lying
around in desk drawers. It
isn’t difficult for an ex-
perienced forger to alter
Stolen passports. _

Canadians are among@the
most travelled people in the
world. Of our 25 million peo-
ple, more than three million
have current passports. Con-
sidering that we don’t require
passports for travel to the
USA, Mexico and certain
other countries — that’s a lot
of Canada on the go.

§ Days. 4 Nights, Air & Hotel

NORTH VAN.

CENTENNIAL
MONDAY APRIL 9 WED. MAR. 28
2 SHOWS: 5:30-8:30

MATINEE: 2 PM
. RES.$6.00-$5.50, $5.00---— 6:00,-8:
STUDENTS $4.00

PLUS .75 abt

TICKETS AT VTC/CBO OUTLETS
EATON S WOODWARD’S -INFO’S CENTRES

1H. 687-4444, AND. CHARGE THEM
TOLL. FREES 800 663-9311

LE CONSEIL SCOLAIRE DE
VANCOUVER -NORD

invite les parents francophones a
_ ingcrire leurs enfants a la
maternelle, aux. niveaux
elémentaires et secondaires

8e & 9e, au |
PROGRAMME - CADRE
de FRANCAIS
pour Pannee scolaire 1984-1985

Ce programme s’adresse aux éléves fran-
cophones de la maternelle, du niveau
elementaire et secondaire de la C.S. 44 et
aussi aux éléves anglophones de la 7e année
et du niveau secondaire 8e & Ye qui posse-
dent une connaissance suffisante du francais
a@ ce niveau.

Pour de plus amples détails, vour pouvez
contacter Donald Fraser, Coordinateur des
Langues Vivantes (987-8141) On ut
obtenir les formulaires d’inscription & lécole
LARSON, 2605 chemin Larson (984 0447)
et & Pecole BALMORAL., 3365 rue Mahon

(987-9394) pour le secondaire.

PORTE OUVERTE
PROGRAMME - CADRE
le 29 mars 1984
a l’'école LARSON