OTTAWA
Passport Canada's web police are having a tough time eradicating a rogue application form from the internet.
And the main culprit in the Case of the Forbidden Form is the Canadian government itself.
The agency is trying to get a handle on form PPTC 132, used by people who want to apply for a passport but can't find anyone to act as a guarantor in vouching for their identity.
The passport agency considers the blank form a potential security risk and insists that anyone who wants to fill one out must appear at an office to request a copy in person.
Last year, Darren Enns of Canmore, Alta., posted a blank copy of the form on his website. Passport Canada asked him to remove it due to "legal and security considerations."
So Enns instead posted links to several Foreign Affairs Department websites where the form could be found.
Now Passport Canada is trying to track down and remove all instances of the form from the internet presence of the Department of Foreign Affairs, its own parent department.
Passport Canada spokesperson Fabien Lengelle said the agency has been in touch with webmasters at Foreign Affairs.
"We've asked our colleagues to remove that file from websites, and we have been successful in some cases but in some we haven't,'' he said.
It's been six months since Enns got a letter from the chief of Passport Canada telling him Foreign Affairs had been advised to remove the form from public access.
"One hand of government doesn't seem to know what the other hand is doing,'' says Enns, who adds that his web page gets more than 500 visits a month from people in over 40 countries.
