The news pages on the LAC website provide a history of opening and closing of LAC on-site service at 395 Wellington. The latest is a 27 January closing — Temporary closure of services to the public at 395 Wellington, Ottawa.
This must surely be as frustrating for LAC management and staff as for clients.
What lessons has LAC learned from the past couple of years of experience which has caused many organizations to rethink business practices?
Perhaps LAC might be more open about the reasons for closure. “Due to circumstances beyond our control” for the latest closure keeps clients in the dark.
UPDATE: Several people commented that the closure is due to the so-called trucker’s protests. While the closure is likely prudent why hide the real reason?
Perhaps LAC might recognize that digitization, with its many other benefits, is something to be enhanced and not reduced as has been the case since the end of the digitization of First World War service files. Would you like LAC to provide free and timely digitization on-demand as happened in Australia with TROVE? Does LAC management have enough initiative to try a pilot project?
Was this latest closure not due to the hijacked trucker rally? Since LAC is a government agency, funded by government I imagine that for the last 10 years or more it has not received the funding amount that it is requesting or else it is being told that it can only increase it’s budget by a small percentage which barely covers the increased wages for staff. Consistently Lobbying the Minister and department in charge plus your MP by those who use the service is likely what is needed.
I am sure it’s for client and staff safety due to the truckers. Their building is in the middle of the action.
The protests might be the present cause but that still does not address the underlying problems with LAC. Digitization is the clear way forward and it is time LAC embraced this. I have been advocating for writing our MPs expressing our disappointment with LAC’s head in the sands approach for some time now. We need a united voice to make access to historical records available to all Canadian instead of only those in the Ottawa area who can show up during LAC’s increasingly irregular hours.