Motorists flock to Canotek

In an effort to restore some of the essential services amid the continuing strike by United Steel Workers employees, DriveTest management employees opened the doors of six locations across the province on Thursday, Nov. 12. Besides the centre on Canotek Road, the other locations that have opened are in Brampton, Toronto, Kitchener, North Bay and Thunder Bay.

Given the limited number of centres open, many had to drive into Ottawa to get their license, some travelling from as far as Cornwall and Carp. They lined up outside Ottawa’s only open centre, waiting as employees let people in one at a time.

Jordan Sanders, who already has a G license, drove in from Cornwall to write for his AZ license so he can help his father haul corn, soybeans and wheat.

Happy managers are offering partial services – “It’s better than nothing,” he noted – Sanders indicated while he can write for his AZ, he’s not sure how long he’ll have to wait to take the road test, which will allow him to drive one of the two trucks his dad owns.

“I’m not sure how backed up it is,” he said.

James Burrows, meanwhile, has been waiting for the strike to end so he can replace his stolen identification.

“I went to the Walkley (DriveTest) Centre just before the strike but I didn’t have the proper ID,” Burrows recounted, adding once he replaced his birth certificate the union was on strike.

The self-employed home renovator has been “trying to make do” in the interim, he said, and is eager to get back to work.

Having waited in line for an hour, Burrows was about a dozen people from the front of the line. “I hope I have all the information they told me I needed last time,” he noted.

Catherine, who didn’t give her last name, was critical of the strike situation. She drove in from the Carp/Almonte area so her 16-year-old son, who was eligible to get his G1 on Oct. 29, could finally write his test.

“People need (their license) for employment,” the mother said as she waited outside on a bench while her son wrote his exam after spending an hour in line. “There’s no OC Transpo in the rural areas.”

Catherine explained even after writing for his G1, her son will have to wait a minimum of eight months before he’s eligible to go for his first road test, and then he’ll have to wait another year before he has his full G license. It’s a two year process, she continued, and her son needs his license so he can work during the summer and save for university.

“I’m upset,” she said, noting those who need a commercial license to work are having an even harder time. “It’s really messing up these kids’ lives.”

She added she’s not sure how the backlog will be handled and wonders when her son will actually be able to conduct his first road test.

While critical of the situation, Catherine said she’s impressed management took the initiative to offer limited services.

“I feel very luck to be here today,” she said before heading off with her son, who successfully got his G1 license.

DriveTest is only offering limited services to customers who need their license for employment or who have registered for driver training. The only services that will be provided are written tests for all classes of license, road tests for commercial classified licenses only, and out-of-province and out-of-country license exchanges. That means DriveTest will not be conducting any road tests for G2, G or D1 licenses.

“We will be giving priority to the people whose livelihood has been most impacted by this strike,” DriveTest managing director Paul Dalglish said in a released statement. “In doing so, we had to make some difficult choices about where to deploy our limited resources. We hope that these focused efforts can begin to address the hardship this strike has caused.”

Customers who hold a license that expired after Aug. 24 due to the need for a retest are still covered by the automatic license extension put in place by the Ministry of Transportation. DriveTest has noted those customers do not need to go the centres at this time, which does not have the need or capacity to serve these customers until the strike ends.

Up-to-date details regarding this partial resumption of service is available at www.DriveTest.ca. Customers should be prepared to substantiate that they need their license for employment or training purposes.