Canada Won’t Send Police To Mexico For Murder Probe

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has said Canada can’t send police to Mexico to investigate the crime.

“There is no country in the world that will allow a foreign police force to come into their country and unilaterally conduct an investigation,” he said Thursday.

“And no changes or amendments or new treaties are going to change that.”

Earlier this week, Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to clear their names and urged the federal government beef up a legal assistance treaty between Canada and Mexico to allow Canuck detectives to conduct an investigation on Mexican soil.

The Ianieros were found dead in their room at the Barcelo Maya Resort last February. Their throats had been slashed.

The two women were initially named as suspects in the crime. They were staying at the same Mayan Riviera resort as the Ianieros and Mexican authorities claimed a trail of blood led to their room.

Everall and Kim claim they were used as scapegoats to protect Mexico’s tourism industry. Lawyers for the women and the Ianiero family say evidence suggests the pair had nothing to do with the crime.

MacKay met with the two women Wednesday and Liberal MP Dan McTeague, the former parliamentary secretary responsible for Canadians abroad under the previous government, said the Foreign Affairs Minister isn’t doing all he can to protect Everall and Kim, who say they’re afraid to leave Canada, fearing Mexican authorities could have them arrested.

“No one is suggesting Canada go there unilaterally,” he said. “What we are saying is, make a request to go there.

“What he’s doing is word-smithing. … You don’t just say `It’s over, we can’t do anything about this,’ and shrug your shoulders. That’s nonsense.”

One Mexican official has suggested it could take up to five years to close this case.

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