Peter MacKay

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member displays a stunning lack of depth of understanding of the justice system in China if that is his submission.

I have just outlined in detail what we have done and continue to do. There are ongoing representations on behalf of Mr. Celil. We are working in every possible way to provide him with consular support.

This is a very tragic case, one that has gained great prominence and is representative of the ongoing human rights problems that exist in the People's Republic of China.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

I will leave it to others, Mr. Speaker, to determine who knows what is going on.

We have been involved in this serious case from the moment we first learned that Mr. Celil had gone through Uzbekistan back to China and has been in custody. We have made persistent attempts to see him through consular officials. We have had members of the consul in Urumqi following this case.

We continue to represent his interests there to the best of our ability, to make representations through the Chinese government, to have access to Mr. Celil, to provide support for his wife and family here in Canada. We continue to do so.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, members of the government and I were deeply disappointed to hear the news this morning with respect to the verdict and the sentence of Mr. Celil. I spoke with his wife Kamila to express those sympathies as well as our ongoing support and commitment on this case.

Chinese authorities have persistently refused to respond to our concerns with respect to this Canadian citizen. In addition, there are concerns for Mr. Celil's health and his well-being. I immediately called in the Chinese chargé d'affaires this morning to speak with him and I expressed these views and Canada's ongoing interest in this case.

We believe that China has not lived up to the Canada-China consular agreement. We will conduct a thorough review to determine whether this remains an effective way to safeguard Canada-China citizens travelling and passports. I will be raising this matter next week in China.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, without going back to the time of Sir John A., I could remind the member opposite that it was a Conservative government that inherited a $38 billion deficit.

It is interesting to get a history lesson from the member opposite, the member whose government was very much involved in the difficulties suffered by Mr. Arar and Mr. Sampson, so we take no lessons from the member opposite on consular cases or the closure of consular offices.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again the key word in the member's question was “rumour”. More quidnuncs from the Liberal Party.

What we have done is what previous governments have done. In fact the member opposite would know that during his time in government, the 13 years, the Liberals closed 31 missions abroad.

We are doing what all governments should do, reviewing the places where we could have the most important strategic presence, and we will make ongoing assessments as time goes by.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, what I have indicated is that of course we will continue to do everything in our ability to assist in catching the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

What is very interesting is that the member opposite is the same member who went off half-cocked, without facts, desperately chasing a headline, as he always does, when he said this within days of the murder:

If the Mexican theory is correct, there are two murderers back in Canada and their trails are getting colder the longer the RCMP fails to act. It doesn't constitute interference in my experience. It requires the government to discharge its responsibility to investigate what may be a question of domestic security.

It is that kind of torqued rhetoric from the member opposite that does not help.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have done better than that. I have voiced our concerns directly to the President of Mexico. I have spoken directly to my counterpart, the Secretary of State for Mexico.

We have had ongoing dialogue. We have had ongoing contact with Mexican officials, within hours of the murder being discovered, and we will continue to do so.

I spoke with Mr. Ianiero shortly after this tragic event occurred to express the sympathies and the support of the Canadian government. I have met with the two individuals who, by all accounts, have been wrongfully accused. We will continue to work to the best of our ability to assist Mexican officials to find the perpetrators.

[Foreign Affairs, April 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and his interest in this file which I know is sincere. The difficulty of course is that this is an investigation that is taking place in another country. Just as we would not have investigators from another country come to Canada and tell officials here how they should conduct themselves, there is very little we can do other than to provide assistance and meet with officials, which we have done at the highest levels.

We have raised this issue with the President of Mexico. We will continue to provide consular support. We will continue to probe and push the Mexican officials to do this investigation properly and to see that it is finally brought to a conclusion and the perpetrators are arrested.

[Foreign Affairs, April 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, I met with both of those individuals and it is extremely unfortunate that they have found themselves caught up in this web and this very sordid investigation that has been underway for some time now in Mexico as a result of the murder of the Ianiero family.

However, as he knows well, the government has very little control over the press and the reporting of this particular incident, which is where the difficulty lies. The member can quote officials both past and present on what has been said about this case. It is an ongoing murder investigation and we cannot control how the press report this.

[International Youth Program, March 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 4(2) of the User Fees Act, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the proposal to implement fees worldwide to foreign youth participating in the international youth program.