e-3412 (Foreign affairs)
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
- L, a Canadian citizen, was abducted at age 6 in 2019, to Paraguay by her mother Aida Esquivel Servin and her mother’s boyfriend Justin Meskas;
- Alexis Smecher is her loving father;
- He has not seen his daughter in person since November 2019, or had reasonable contact despite best attempts;
- L’s parenting is shared between her mother and father under a comprehensive 2017 BC Supreme Court parenting agreement;
- Canada and Paraguay are signatories to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which emphasizes resolution within six weeks;
- Since the abduction, L’s father has exhausted all timely legal remedies in Paraguay and Canada and through the Interamerican Court of Human Rights (IACHR);
- Paraguay has not rendered a final decision on the return or protected L’s fundamental rights; and
- It is common for abducting parents to use the change of jurisdiction to deprive their children of home, family and identity, causing lasting damage.
- Open for signature
- May 11, 2021, at 3:09 p.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- June 10, 2021, at 3:09 p.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Randall Garrison
(Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke)
June 21, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01185)