I sometimes get calls from concerned clients wondering why they haven’t heard from us in a couple of months. The straight answer is that we probably don’t have much news. The courts, police, and Parole Board can all take a long time to send us the information that we need to move forward with a file. The reality of working in a pardon office is that we spend a LOT of time chasing after other organizations to send us what we need so that we can do our jobs.
Some clients have suggested that they would like a courtesy call every couple of weeks just to touch base and keep them in the loop regarding progress on their file. While we certainly try to accommodate this as much of possible please keep in mind that we currently have over 7000 clients. If we were to call every client every couple of weeks, that would mean making over 14 000 phone calls per month! As a small administrative services organization, there is just no way that our current staff can handle that number of calls in addition to the calls that we already field. We could, of course, hire more staff but that would mean raising our prices and I’m sure you’ll agree that no one wants that!
We do understand that you have an absolute right to know that your application is being administered professionally and expediently. This is why we have invested in a phone system that allows you to speak with a counselor in our Calgary office if no one is available to answer the phone in our Montreal office and vice-versa. We offer a toll-free number and, on the off chance that you do have to leave a voicemail or send an email, we will respond to them quickly – normally within an hour or 2. If this is not enough, then of course you can also ask that we contact you as soon as we have any news regarding the status of your application.
At the end of the day, I just want our clients to know that when it comes to pardons, no news is essentially good news. We will always contact you immediately if there is any sort of concern with your application and we are always happy to talk if you call us to find out about the status of your file.