Let me preface my answer, if I could, with a brief comment for the rest of the committee, just to note that you are referring to the smallest subset possible of consular cases that Ms. Jeffrey referred to. She was talking about millions of Canadians abroad. We are talking about 20 cases over the last decade where Canadians have been abducted. We call them “critical incidents”, because they are more than your run-of-the-mill hostage-taking. These are individuals who have been abducted by terrorist organizations or organizations affiliated with terrorist bodies, which seek not only concessions from the family, but ransom and concessions from the Government of Canada, and therefore, have national security implications.
The policy stated by the Prime Minister about not paying ransom and not making concessions remains the policy of Canada. It's very difficult to point to empirical evidence that the payment of ransoms does facilitate further hostage-taking, but there is certainly a strong body of anecdotal evidence that suggests that whenever you enrich a group through the payment of ransoms, they have the means to continue to conduct that business line. It is, therefore, the policy of the Government of Canada not to do so.