Senator Wells: Thank you, Senator Gold. This morning my office received the delayed answer from April 28. It really is too long when the lives and safety of Canadians are at stake.

I’d like to know, and I think this chamber should know. Canadians are being detained for following the rules. They are, in fact, being held hostage in another country. Their passports have been confiscated.

If we could have an answer on the result of any intervention that the Prime Minister may have made at the Summit of the Americas before we rise for the summer, that would be appreciated.

Hon. David M. Wells: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Senator Gold, on April 5, 2022, more than two months ago, a Pivot Airlines crew of five Canadians were arbitrarily detained and imprisoned in the Dominican Republic after discovering and reporting that they found 210 kilograms of cocaine in the avionics compartment of the flight they flew into the Dominican Republic.

On April 28 I asked you, Senator Gold, a question about the detained crew. More specifically, I asked if the Minister of Foreign Affairs has intervened in this urgent matter. It’s now June 9, and the crew is still asking for help from the government.

Senator Gold, you’ll know that Prime Minister Trudeau is at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and will have the opportunity — or, perhaps, has had the opportunity — to meet with Dominican President Abinader on the sidelines of the summit or, perhaps, in one of the main meetings that they have.

It’s unacceptable that crew members who reported, as per the rules, to both the RCMP and the local authorities have been detained for more than two months, moving from safe house to safe house ahead of those who want to see them stopped or harmed.

Has the Prime Minister or did the Minister of Foreign Affairs make representation to the President of the Dominican Republic regarding these Canadian crew members?