(Montreal) Conservative leader Pierre Polevre posted a petition on his Twitter account calling on the Liberal government to “preserve Canada’s history in the new passport.”
Updated yesterday at 23:51.
The passport revision has attracted a lot of attention since it was announced on Wednesday. The new interior designs are more generic, featuring non-specific characters working or playing in Canadian landscapes.
The passport will also have a polycarbonate page and other new security features. In particular, an electronic chip is inserted in a transparent window on the first page to better detect attempts at counterfeiting.
But above all the colored drawings on the pages of the travel document are causing some dissatisfaction.
In a video posted to Twitter on Saturday night, Pierre Poilievre argues that key icons of Canadian history such as Terry Fox, Nellie McClung and Canada’s National Vimy Memorial are missing from the new passport. He claims that this document is an important expression of our national identity and that these heroic figures should find their way there.
In his video, Mr Poilievre did not miss the opportunity to repeatedly skin Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“Our national history in this passport now more closely resembles Justin Trudeau’s personal coloring book, filled with insignificant little things like Canadians raking leaves or a squirrel eating a nut,” Poilievre said in his recording outside Ottawa’s National War Memorial.
On Thursday, during Question Time in the House of Commons, Mr Poilievre also pledged that if he became prime minister he would bring back a Canadian passport with historical references, particularly on the Battle of Vimy Ridge and sportsman Terry Fox.
The Canadian passport was last updated ten years ago.
Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser said this week the changes were made taking into account feedback from Canadians. He said that as part of the consultation process, he expressed a desire to continue to focus on diversity, environment and life experiences in the Canadian territories.