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Letters  

Harsher stance on Saudis

The last week has seen news reports flying from all directions talking about the ridiculous actions by Saudi Arabia to ban all new trade incoming from Canada and to not allow young Saudis to study at Canadian universities.

While I do agree the Saudis are being ridiculous and petty, I believe this is an opportunity for Canada to make its position on political imprisonment and the use of sharia law completely clear – it doesn’t fly with us.

Many Canadians are surprised to hear that Raif Badawi, whose sister recently joined him in a Saudi prison, has been a prisoner of Saudi Arabia since 2012 for the crime of “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” The reason for his imprisonment would obviously not be an adequate one in any country that is not governed by a barbaric and savage set of laws.

I agree on very few things the liberal ministers have been doing since taking power, but I do agree with the minister of foreign affairs’ (Chrystia Freeland) statement saying: “Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi’s sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.”

In fact, I believe it should have been harsher and much more strongly worded. We cannot tolerate the imprisonment of people simply for their political beliefs.

On principle alone, we should make no effort to reconcile our relationship with Saudi Arabia because they do not value any of the important facets of our society that we hold so dear. Canada is built on the fundamental rights of the individual and the protection from persecution regardless of what one’s beliefs are. There are harsh critics of the government in Canada today, and they are allowed to voice their opinions without fear of being imprisoned, fined, or sentenced to horrendous punishments like lashes or flogging.

Saudi Arabia is anything but a free democracy and we need to embrace the fact that, until they adopt a constitution or charter that accepts the rights of the individual as the paramount power in the land, we cannot have completely friendly relations with them. The longer we try to ignore Saudi Arabia’s atrocious human rights record, the worse off the future will be for us.

Saudi Arabia is obviously afraid of the influence Canada and other free democracies are having on its youth population. 

Garry Drachenberg



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