July 31, 2012 - The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs), was in Montréal today to meet with Pina Arcamone, Director General of the Missing Children’s Network, a non-profit organization whose mission is to assist parents in the search for their missing children in Canada or in a foreign country.
“As a mother and grandmother, I cannot fathom how difficult it must be to have a child go missing. I commend Ms. Arcamone and her team for their unyielding dedication to helping parents in the search for their missing child,” said Minister of State Ablonczy. “Our government has been working closely with organizations such as this one to resolve cases and bring children back safe and sound to their families.”
On average, 22 children are reported missing in Quebec alone every day. During the meeting, Minister of State Ablonczy discussed the services available to parents, guardians, law enforcement officials and others across Canada to locate and assist missing children.
“Every year, we work closely with the government on dozens of cases involving children abducted at the international level,” said Ms. Arcamone. “We were pleased to welcome Minister Ablonczy here today. Her visit serves to underscore the important work we do together to recover these children.”
Minister of State Ablonczy took the opportunity to highlight a new manual that the Government of Canada is developing that will provide practical step-by-step guidelines for parents facing ongoing or potential cases involving children who have been unlawfully removed from Canada by another parent. It will provide tools and resources to help prevent child abductions and deal effectively with abductions that are in progress.
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Gemma Collins
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs)
613-944-1291
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
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