Ottawa Not Doing Enough For Canadians In Foreign Jails

Itzhayek, who has a wife and two children in Montreal, was in Nepal on business when his driver was arrested at the Indian border with his travel documents, which were seized. He filed sworn statements saying Indian police offered him safe passage back into India to collect his documents. Instead, they arrested him for entering the country illegally. Itzhayek's case was raised with Indian authorities by Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier during a visit to New Delhi earlier this month. But aside from a one-line statement in a news release following the meeting, Sylvia Itzhayek has not received any information about the diplomatic efforts to free her brother. "What are they doing? Why are they not helping Canadian citizens abroad?" The office of Helena Guergis, junior minister responsible for consular affairs, did not respond to an interview request on Wednesday. Itzhayek is not alone in feeling the Foreign Affairs Department fails to take decisive action to free imprisoned Canadians who protest their innocence. "Foreign Affairs, basically, is almost disinterested for the most part," said Debra Tieleman, whose longtime friend Brenda Martin has been stuck in a Mexican jail for nearly two years. "They don't have a clue about what's going on." ... "We need a complete overhaul of our consular services," said Tieleman. "It's as though your Canadian passport isn't worth anything." http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080123/national/cda_foreign_jails

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