Broken camera stalls licences
All communities to be upgraded with new equipment within two years, department says
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Monday, May 11, 2015
IQALUIT
A broken camera at the Motor Vehicle Division office in Iqaluit left quite a few clients frustrated for weeks.
Approximately 100 people were inconvenienced, said Art Stewart, director for the transportation policy and planning division of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation.
One Iqaluit woman who asked her name be withheld said she'd been waiting eight weeks for the service to resume.
"I needed a driver's licence for my job. I also needed a piece of ID for when I go south, other than my passport. Which they couldn't do any of without the camera," she said.
"I technically can't do some of the work my boss asks me to do and I have to bring my passport out in public now. And I can't go home without it."
It's a little-known fact that passports are to be used only as a travel document, not as general identification.
When Nunavut News/North spoke with Stewart May 5, he said that as of that day the division was back in action.
The woman was relieved to hear the news.
"But it will still take a while for any of it to get here, at least a month or two. It's frustrating," she said.
"I'm just mad about it. I did have patience at the start. After eight weeks I have no more patience."
She doesn't understand how it could take so long.
Stewart explained it wasn't just a matter of fixing a broken camera.
"We had a computer problem," he said. "Our motor vehicle information system is over 20 years old. It has problems frequently. In this case, what happened is the software that controls the picture-taking of the actual licences and GICs (general identification cards) failed. Though they got the required software, they had difficulties loading it onto our computer.
"The platform that we use and the system is over 20 years old. They kept trying and it just didn't work. Finally, we did get a hold of the proper people and they came up and actually fixed it."
Temporary driver's licences were issued, but without photos.
"It certainly was an inconvenience," Stewart agreed.
For the future, there's good news. The aging system has been identified and money set aside in the Government of Nunavut's capital plan for a new one.
"We are getting a new motor vehicle information system," said Stewart.
The department has put out a request for proposals.
"We will be analyzing the vendors and hopefully we'll be getting a vendor selected within the next month or month and a half. Once the vendor is selected we think it may take from 18 to 24 months to get the new system installed, tested, up and running - tested in all 25 communities."
The new system will be web-based and is expected to cost more than $1 million.
