Mr. Speaker, in the face of human tragedy, the only thing worse than inaction is promising to act and then doing nothing. That is what the federal government is doing to the family of Raïf Badawi, who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for nine years.
His wife, Ensaf Haidar, wrote to the Minister of Immigration and the Prime Minister this morning, reminding them that all members of the House, including the minister and the Prime Minister, agreed that Canada should grant citizenship to Raïf Badawi. She also reminded them that the Quebec National Assembly and the Senate also support that request. Everyone is calling on Ottawa to take action.
The saddest part of her letter is that Ms. Haidar expresses doubt, perhaps for the first time, that her husband will be able to serve his full prison sentence before Ottawa finally takes action. I still believe this government is better than that. It is not too late. The government needs to honour its promise and make Raïf Badawi a citizen.