Jewish Montrealer pushes back when passport officials tell her Israel can’t be named as her birth country

Doubting what she was told, Zorchinsky told National Post in an interview, she asked to see the policy supporting the official’s assertion. Then, she says, the employee went away and came back with a few colleagues who told her this change came about because Canada has recognized a state of Palestine.

She was also told there was an online list of the cities caught by the policy change.

Zorchinsky asked for a policy document that laid out the officials’ assertion. They provided nothing.

“She (the passport employee) just said this without any support, no policy document. It was clear something was off.”

Ultimately, the passport officials backed down and told her it was okay to designate Israel as her birth country.