I'm not entirely certain it is on purpose. The fact is the process .. although driven on systems is still managed by human intervention. And as everywhere not everyone is equally diligent and hence the process will always have variance. However, I do believe some VO perform better than some others. My guess for that is that when the process was created most applications were handled by Ottawa and hence they are more adept at processing them. With time, the number of applications have gone up and is now in relatively smaller VOs. It is possible these VOs don't have the same amount of experience as Ottawa employees have and hence the delay / variation.
BUT, I do agree with you .. if it is meant to be it will happen. And, you can always count on me for a big party in case I get my PPR before Nov 19. I anyways plan to host a party in Montreal
I already love the place.