Mr. Speaker, in reply to the hon. leader of the opposition, he will be aware, as the prime minister told the House, that it is absolutely unacceptable to the Government of Canada that anybody should be authorized by a foreign government to use Canadian passports to perpetrate an illegal act.
I want to tell the House that we have taken actions to protect the integrity of our passport, the safety of Canadians and to assure all concerned that Canada is not complicit in any way in this incident.
We have obtained the two forged passports used in Jordan.
The hon. member will be aware that we have recalled our ambassador to Israel for consultations. This is a very serious step in international law and diplomacy. It is intended to send the signal that we will not tolerate the fraudulent use of Canadian passports. We believe this message has been heard in Israel.
I can confirm to the hon. member that the Israeli minister of foreign affairs, David Levy, called the Minister of Foreign Affairs yesterday. Foreign minister Levy expressed his regret at what had transpired. He is clearly concerned regarding the implications for Canada's future relations with Israel.
I can also inform the hon. member that Mr. Levy indicated the Israeli government has undertaken to investigate the matter and clear up all questions which have arisen between Canada and Israel. He undertook to provide the results of the investigation to Canada.
The hon. member should be aware that Mr. Levy agreed to the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that further discussions take place to ensure that this does not happen again.