An Ontario woman says the federal government is letting down residents with disabilities by forbidding staff at Passport Canada from helping applicants fill out their forms.
Rebecca Blaevoet of Windsor, Ont., says she learned of the policy last month when she went to have her passport renewed.
Blaevoet, who is totally blind, requested that Passport Canada staff write out her form according to the responses she provided, but was informed that doing so would violate official guidelines.
Staff offered her a braille form, which would only have allowed her to read the application rather than complete it, only to retract the offer upon realizing they did not have any in stock.
In the end Blaevoet says she was asked to handwrite the form as a staff member placed a writing guide -- an aid to show her where to write -- on each individual line, an option she said wouldn't have been available to people whose disabilities prevented them from holding a pen or writing in print.
Passport Canada says the rule barring staff from filling in forms on behalf of others is applied across the country, adding there is no exemption in place for Canadians with disabilities.
