Mr. Speaker, I would advise the hon. member that I have been briefed on this matter for fully a week. The answers that I am giving reflect the knowledge of facts such as they are.
They have some personal interest to me as somebody who has advised numbers of governments on international terrorism and its control.
When we first became aware of this matter we were advised by the Jordanian government of the arrest of two persons carrying Canadian passports, and Canadian diplomatic consul officials in Jordan made contact with these people through the offices of the Jordanian government and offered the usual diplomatic consular help, the offer of legal assistance and the like. It was refused categorically at that stage.
I will stick to facts because we cannot get into hypothetical situations. We were shown the passports by Jordanian government officials in the early stages of the investigation. Our examination then indicated that the passports were forgeries.
I want to inform the hon. member that we have now obtained the two passports used in Jordan. We have submitted them to our own forensic examination and that has confirmed the initial evaluation that the passports are forgeries.
We have, from the facts as they are already known, indicated our concern to the Government of Israel and we have spoken loudly and clearly to the Government of Israel.
The hon. member will be aware that we have recalled our ambassador to Israel for consultations. It is not a formal step. It is a very serious step in international law and diplomacy and it is intended to send a signal that we do not want Canadian passports tampered with in the future.