The National Pardon Centre™

One of my competitors has a blog that I watch from time to time. And I find it amusing because every blog entry reads like this:

“Here is a letter from a happy client who loves us…”

And then the entry continues with a letter congratulating the company on its excellence. It is not for me to decide whether or not the letter is a fake. And I am also not in the business of disgracing my competition which is why I have not named names. But…I am willing to do a pardon or waiver for half price to the first person who actually reads this blog AND discovers the competitor I am referring to. Send your answers to info@nationalpardon.org I would be very happy if someone actually managed to do this.  

In the meantime I thought it would be fun to turn things around. So, in the interest of blog entries that are nothing more than letters from one person to another here is a letter I sent to an actual person who asked me how long the pardon procedure takes to complete. I guarantee it is 100% authentic.

Hi Albert,

Our expedited service is only applicable as far as the work done in our office in concerned. Once the file is sent to the Parole Board it is out of our hands. That being said we are seeing our expedited files finished within 2- 8 months right now (that estimate includes time at the National Parole Board). Of course there are always exceptions since we are dealing with the government, which is why we cannot guarantee this time but that is honestly the average response we expect at the moment.

You should also be aware that expedited services are only available if the client is currently eligible or if he/she will be eligible very soon. We have no way of getting around the probationary periods imposed by the Parole Board.

As for emergency pardons there are some situations that warrant special treatment by the Parole Board. The work on our side does not change but if we can provide proof of emergency status then the response time from the Parole Board can be shortened. However, work is not a valid reason because work is the number one reason people finally get around to obtaining a pardon. Unfortunately, our clients tend to wait until the criminal record is adversely affecting something in their life before realizing the importance of the application.

I hope that information helps. Please let me know if you have further questions or if you would like to get a file started.

Kind regards,

Michael Ashby

(514) 842-2411 x 227
http://www.nationalpardon.org/

It has been a long time since we were covered extensively in the Media. Since we opened our doors in 2002 we have been featured and/or quoted in everything from the Globe and Mail to La Journal de Montreal, and quite a few in between.

Two of my favourite articles appeared in a little weekly, English language paper here in Montreal, The Montreal Mirror. The paper covered two stories. One was the business in pardons in General and another was the story of a local Montreal business by the name of Pierre Charade.

Pierre is a producer for RDS, which is the French language sports channel. And since meeting Mr. Charade back in 2002 we have stayed in touch and I have advertised on his programs regularly. It is been a positive working relationship. And I like to think that part of what we do here at the National Pardon Centre is build working relationships. In other words, we help our clients get their lives back on the right track. And every once in awhile a client surprises us and helps us out in one way or another.

So if you are interested here is the article on the National Pardon Centre in General.

And here is the article about Mr. Charade’s adventures at the US Border.

As always, if you have any questions just give me a shout. I can be reached by email or phone most of the business day.

Sincerely,

Michael Ashby

mashby@nationalpardon.org
514.842.2411 x 227

It has been a long time since we won our information technology award from CIPA. Since then we haven’t stopped working hard to be the best pardon and waiver service in Canada. But since that award was granted the National Pardon Centre has certainly not been stagnant, especially not in the area of technological innovation.

We achieved RCMP accreditation making us one of the only pardon and waiver services able to offer this crucial step in the process. We have also invested in a new VOIP phone system to better handle calls between our offices.

Essentially we have done everything possible to ensure that we are at the forefront of any technology that help us better serve our clients. But I am also happy to say that we don’t jump on a band wagon just because the band is playing loudly. You will see that we are NOT on twitter; not because we dislike twitter but because there is nothing in the day to day business of doing pardons that needs to be “tweeted” (did I say that right?). Twitter is great, or can be I’m told but it is not for us. We would rather focus our energies on doing what we do best: Canadian pardons and US entry waivers. That’s what we do and we do it very well.

So give us a call if you need help. We would be happy to clear things up for you.

Every single day I come to work I can be guaranteed to hear a horror story from someone who experienced unpleasant behaviour from a United States Border Guard. This is not to suggest that they are all bad because considering the number of people crossing the border and the number of border guards there to handle the volume of traffic, obviously most of them are decent, intelligent people capable to handling their job competently and with manners intact. However, that being said I still hear stories everyday of people being mistreated at the border. This is why I couldn’t resist reposting this cartoon from the Globe and Mail today. If you have had a similar experience at the border I think you will appreciate it. And if you have been to an airport in the last ten years I think you will appreciate it even more.