Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition to this House on behalf of dozens of my constituents with respect to what is known as the Apostille Convention.
Albania, China, Czech Republic, France, Korea, Romania, Great Britain, the U.S.A. and many other countries signed the Hague Convention of 1961 abolishing the requirement of the legalization of foreign public documents but Canada is not among them. Unfortunately, this means that when foreign documents are required to be provided there needs to be court records; civil, school or commercial documents; as well as powers of attorney and affidavits. A simple procedure that would make life easier for many is not available in Canada. Canadians must endure a time-consuming and expensive process to obtain authentications from foreign consulates.
There has been a large influx of newcomers to Canada and it is therefore time to simplify the flow of legal documents to and from Canada with the rest of the world.
The petitioners, therefore, call upon the Government of Canada to conclude negotiations with the provinces and territories for the adoption of the 1961 Hague Convention on the authentication of foreign documents within 12 months or, failing that, to proceed unilaterally to ratify that convention.