Mr. Speaker, on October 30, I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question on the confinement in a Maine jail of Michel Jalbert. Mr. Jalbert was jailed for neglecting to declare a gas purchase made at a gas station located on the other side of the border. Mr. Jalbert was arrested on October 11.
In response to my question—and I thank the foreign affairs minister for this—somebody was assigned to meet with Mr. Jalbert and his lawyer to make sure that he was treated fairly and rapidly. Unfortunately, even though Larissa Blavatska, the person who has been assigned to his case, has met with Mr. Jalbert, it seems that the American authorities still want to make an example of this case.
I would urge the foreign affairs minister and his department to double their efforts, to return to the charge and to approach the American government once more. We obviously cannot interfere with the American judicial system, but I think that we have pertinent information that could be communicated to the Americans.
For example, there is a precedent dating back to 1980. There is a letter on file that shows that Americans were tolerant of citizens who went to buy gas at this station. There was a practice that had been accepted for a long time. Also, Mr. Jalbert is not a terrorist. He is not someone who intended to cross the border to commit some crime.
Despite the climate that exists on the American side and that we can understand because of the whole issue of terrorism, I am asking the minister and the Department of Foreign Affairs to make additional efforts to ensure that Mr. Jalbert rapidly receives fair and equitable treatment and, if possible, is reunited with his family before Christmas.
Unfortunately, at the present time, if he does not plead guilty to the charges, he may stay in jail for several months. We are talking about two to six months. If he pleads guilty to the two charges, he will have to face the immigration officials.
Thus, in this situation, I think there is room for some common sense. The department must continue to take action that will persuade the Americans to agree to treat this case as what it is—an unfortunate situation in a context where the Americans have tolerated the same thing by many people in the past.
I ask the department to take further action along these lines.