Mr. Speaker, today is International Human Rights Day.
This year, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is raising global awareness of two international covenants on human rights, covenants that establish a universal framework of rights and freedoms that everyone in the world should enjoy.
As we mark this occasion together, we should be mindful of those who have struggled to guarantee these basic liberties: men and women like Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger and dissident sentenced to imprisonment and lashes for his ideas; or Malala, whose advocacy for the right to education has inspired us all.
On behalf of the New Democratic Party, I invite all members to honour those who fight so valiantly for the rights of all human beings.