CIMM – Question Period Note - Discretionary Grant for Foreign Detainee – November 29, 2022

Date: 28 November, 2022
Classification: Protected B
Department: IRCC

Issue:

In 2021, the House of Commons and Senate both moved a motion calling on your predecessor to exercise his discretionary authority to grant Canadian citizenship to Mr. Raif Badawi, a foreign national who was detained in a Saudi Arabian prison. The same motion was also unanimously adopted by the House on February 28, 2022. Mr Badawi was released on March 11, 2022.

Proposed Response:

• The Government of Canada was pleased to hear that Mr. Badawi was released from prison in Saudi Arabia. His well-being is foremost in our minds.
• The Government of Canada has consistently advocated on behalf of Mr. Badawi.
• I cannot speak to any specifics related to individual cases in order to respect the privacy, security and safety of those individuals.

Contact:
Nicole Girard
Director General, Citizenship
Cell. No.: 343-574-7073

Approved by: Soyoung Park
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Programs
Tel. No.: 613-316-6421

Background:

• Raif Badawi is a Saudi Arabian writer and activist who was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012 on a charge of insulting Islam. According to credible sources, he was released from prison on March 11, 2022 after serving a 10-year prison sentence.
• He is, however, under a 10-year ban from travelling outside Saudi Arabia, and he is subject to a media ban and substantial monetary fine, as per his original sentence. [Redacted]. His wife and children are Canadian citizens living in Quebec.
• There is significant interest in Mr. Badawi’s case from various advocacy groups, as well as Canadian Parliamentarians in the House of Commons and Senate. Both houses unanimously adopted motions on January 27, 2021 and June 3, 2021, respectively, to call upon the Minister of IRCC to grant discretionary citizenship to Mr. Badawi to alleviate special and unusual hardship. The same motion was again unanimously adopted by the House on February 28, 2022.
• Filmmakers who followed Mr. Badawi's wife in her fight to free her husband have created a documentary with the title En attendant Raif. This was released on November 4, 2022.
• All international efforts, including Canadian efforts to date in seeking clemency for Mr. Badawi have been unsuccessful.
• [Redacted].
• [Redacted].

Discretionary Grants of Citizenship

• The Citizenship Act allows the Minister of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) to use his or her discretion to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of statelessness, or of special and unusual hardship, or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada.
• Discretionary grants are carefully assessed and decided on a case-by-case basis. They generally require engagement from the individual involved to provide evidence and to complete the assessment.
• Additionally, the individual must not be prohibited from a grant of citizenship on the basis of criminality or security prohibitions, and must take the Oath of Citizenship if they are 14 years of age and older.
• Although the Citizenship Act gives the Minister a broad discretionary authority to grant citizenship, it does not authorize the Minister to overcome other legal requirements, such as the Oath.
• [Redacted].