Mr. Speaker, I want to let the member know that I honestly do look forward to working very closely with him on a number of consular cases where Canadians are in difficult situations abroad.
I think the hon. member knows very well, as he did stand in my shoes--and I can pull out Hansard, media reports, correspondence and such--that he himself very often in the past has said two very important things, one being that I am bound by the Privacy Act with respect to speaking in detail about a case. I can assure him that on any consular case I will do my ultimate, my very best, to work with our consular officials to ensure that every Canadian is being provided the consular services he or she is entitled to.
I am very aware that he has a keen interest in this case. I will continue to follow up with him. However, I do also want to point out one more thing with respect to consular services. He made a comment about getting involved in the judicial system. Again, I have endless quotes and endless pieces of correspondence in which he has said that very thing himself: we do not have the authority to intervene in the judicial system in another country.