Mr. Speaker, during today's adjournment debate, I will be talking about a human case that transcends partisanship. I am obviously talking about the case of André Gauthier, a Canadian citizen from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord who is currently being detained in the United Arab Emirates, a country with a poor human rights record.
We have been working with Mr. Gauthier's family for over two months now. The family has been working on this case for more than four agonizing years. Over the past four years, the family has knocked on many doors. It has spoken to various stakeholders and consular authorities. In four years, very little progress has been made. Does that mean that the usual non-political channels are not proactive enough? It seems clear now that unless a case gets media attention, the government is not really interested.
I will recap the events of the past few days. The media broke the news of Mr. Gauthier's detention on May 25, last Saturday. The office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not inform us until the evening of Tuesday, May 28, that it was trying to intervene with the Omani government before Mr. Gauthier was deported to the United Arab Emirates. However, we had known since Saturday about the urgent need to intervene before Mr. Gauthier was deported to the UAE. Why did this take so long?
Yesterday, Wednesday, we learned that the office no longer had any idea where Mr. Gauthier was, and yet it is Canada's right to know where its citizens are. We have an ambassador in the region. It is his duty to do the necessary research in a timely manner so as not to leave the family anxious and in the dark.
In my opinion, the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not take the situation seriously and Canada has been negligent. Nothing has changed since we began working with the family. However, once the media got wind of what was going on, suddenly there was more of an interest. Some progress has now been made, but not much. The government keeps telling us, in the media and during question period, that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is aware of the situation and that she is monitoring it closely to see if there are any developments. Is the government really trying to bring Mr. Gauthier home to Canada or it is simply trying to ensure that he has a telephone and access to the care he needs while he is in prison? There is a big difference between the two.
I am familiar with international law as it relates to these issues. I understand that the United Arab Emirates is not required to send André Gauthier back to Canada. This is where diplomacy and negotiation come in. The United Arab Emirates is the largest importer of Canadian goods in the Middle East. We have emerging trade relations with this country, which is trying to get closer to the west. The United Arab Emirates wants to attract foreign investors as well as tourists. Now is a good time for Canada to bring our citizen back.
The family are in complete bewilderment over the level of support they have received so far. Nevertheless, we are not here to put anyone on trial. At this stage, we would all be very happy for André Gauthier to come home.
I have some questions for my colleagues in the government this evening. Why has it taken so long to move this case forward? What kind of support will be offered to the family? Where do things stand right now? What concrete action will the government take to bring Mr. Gauthier back home? Has the government set a timeline for bringing Mr. Gauthier back to Canada?