Foreign Affairs committee  I can speak to the privacy aspect. The Privacy Act obviously is designed to protect the interests of Canadians. We take our accountabilities very seriously under the act and we will not release without their consent information about the cases of individuals or their circumstance

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll let David respond to the kidnapping cases. For other kinds of consular cases, including people in detention and regular circumstances, we always try to obtain their consent, because in many cases they do not wish to have their cases discussed with members of their family or

Foreign Affairs committee  That's why we have to establish contact. David, do you want to speak to how that's handled in cases when you aren't able to do so?

Foreign Affairs committee  I can answer that. I think that with each case we look at all the potential avenues that are on the table. When we don't have a mission in the country, sometimes it's covered from a neighbouring country. Sometimes we work through our—

Foreign Affairs committee  In countries where we have closed our missions—for example, in North Korea or Iran—we work through protecting powers, through a like-minded state that's agreed to serve as our representative on the ground. We also work through many different avenues. For example, in relation to y

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. In 2016, Minister Dion affirmed that Canada's policies do oppose the death penalty and that we will undertake consular interventions in all cases where Canadians are being subjected to the death penalty abroad. This includes active monitoring of cases, advocacy with local of

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I can speak to that. Since 1995 there's been a consular service fee, as you know, collected as part of the passport fee. It's $25 per passport. We're required by Treasury Board to report annually on the cost of consular service in relation to the fee, and the restriction,

Foreign Affairs committee  The methodology has remained constant since the inception of the fees.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for welcoming us back to this committee during your hearings on consular services. I'll start with a few remarks on the work of the consular team, to update you since we last met in October. Then I'll pass it on to my colleague David Drake, the director gene

Foreign Affairs committee  I would also just add that where countries don't recognize dual citizenship and continue to refuse access, we also explore other options, alternatives, to try to reach those Canadians. For example, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has a special mandate to visit

Foreign Affairs committee  In cases where countries don't recognize dual citizens or where we have challenges or that access is not consistent, that is where we try to work bilaterally with that country to put in place a different kind of agreement or to elaborate an understanding that is separate from an

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say that we treat cases of dual citizens just as Canadians wherever they are. In cases where dual citizenship is not recognized by the country in which they are present and where our consular access is refused, we continue to make representations, to intervene with the lo

Foreign Affairs committee  Our approach with countries is to continue to insist on the fact that Canadian citizens are Canadian and that we have a right under the Vienna convention to provide consular services to them. We continue to insist on that right even in countries where that right is not recognized

Foreign Affairs committee  There's one registry. For us it's valuable to know all Canadians who are there at a given point in time, whether they've been living there their whole lives or they're just there for three days, so we encourage all to register.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. One of the things we are doing and encourage is proactive outreach on the part of our missions to not just the travel industry but to all the different institutions to make sure that the Canadians who are present register. That's part of our ongoing efforts.