Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is with great sadness that I table this petition.
The petitioners grieve that whereas Jacqueline Mariana MacLellan, born as a Canadian citizen, was kidnapped by her father on October 27, 1996 and taken to Bermuda; whereas the mother, Marguerite M. Kopaniak, holds a custody order awarded by the Supreme Court of Ontario which found that the father, Peter R. MacLellan, is in contempt of said court; and whereas Bermuda is not a signatory to the Hague convention, thus eliminating the generally adhered to rules to return abducted children to the country of original jurisdiction, the petitioners call on Parliament to take action to have the Bermuda authorities recognize and honour the Canadian jurisdiction over this child and cause for the child to be returned to Canada into the care and custody of the mother.