Following Stephen Harper’s dismissive comments about distressed Canadians abroad, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae and Consular Affairs Critic Dan McTeague are calling on the Harper government to guarantee that all Canadian citizens abroad will be equally protected.
“Holding a Canadian passport must mean the Canadian government will protect you – no matter where, no matter when,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “Instead, the Harper government handed Suaad Mohamud’s passport over to Kenyan officials to aid in her prosecution. She’s only the latest Canadian endangered abroad by a government that picks and chooses which citizens it wants to protect.”
Responding to reporters at a press conference today, the Prime Minister said, “The Government of Canada does not control affairs in other countries. We do our best to aid those who are in various forms of difficulty, but ultimately we’re not the sovereign government once people leave our territory.”
The Harper government’s about-face on Ms. Mohamud’s status comes as a federal court has ordered the government, for the second time, to protect the human rights of former child soldier Omar Khadr by seeking his return to Canada from Guantanamo Bay.
“Today’s decision by the Federal Court of Appeal reaffirms the obligation of the government of Canada to seek Omar Khadr’s return to Canada,” said Mr. Rae.
“Suaad Mohamud, Omar Khadr, Abdihakim Mohamed, Bashir Makhtal, Maziar Bahari, Abousfian Abdelrazik and Brenda Martin all have one thing in common – they’re Canadian. But our government has failed in its duty to provide equal treatment to them,” Mr. Rae added.
“Minister Cannon needs to come out of hiding and explain to all Canadians why some get help, but others are abandoned,” added Mr. McTeague.
Abdihakim Mohamed, a Canadian autistic man of Somali origin, has been stuck in Nairobi for three years because Canadian officials don’t believe he matches his passport photo. His mother in Ottawa has provided affidavits from Canadians who know her son, and she has offered to take a DNA test, but so far the Canadian government has ignored that offer.
Mr. Rae and Ignatieff also expressed concern about a Canadian refugee claimant, Nay Myo Hein, who is a Burmese child soldier living in Saskatoon and facing deportation back to Burma. If deported, it would be the first known case of a Burmese refugee claimant sent back to Burma by Canadian officials, just days after Prime Minister Harper’s own comments about the brutality of the Burmese regime.
