Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House that the government is very concerned about the safety of Canadians travelling abroad. We have taken significant action to protect the integrity of our passports and the safety of Canadians.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs at the United Nations last week had extensive consultations with Arab governments and the Arab language press to assure them that there was no complicity on the part of Canada in this incident. As a result, the Arab governments and the Arab people realize that Canada was not involved in the attack in Jordan and will not hold us responsible. This diplomatic effort was the most important step in ensuring the safety of Canadians travelling and living in the Middle East.
Travel reports on eight Middle Eastern countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were updated on October 5 to inform the public of the recent incident in Jordan, to clarify Canada's non-complicity and to remind Canadians to be prudent and vigilant when travelling in the region.
As the prime minister told the House, it is unacceptable to the Government of Canada for anybody authorized by a foreign government to use Canadian passports to perpetrate an illegal act. 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 designed to send the signal that we will not tolerate the fraudulent use of Canadian passports. We do believe this message has been heard in Israel.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs has obtained a commitment from the Israeli foreign minister to set up a consultative process with us to ensure that we can have a common understanding to prevent misuse of Canadian passports in the future.