COW - Potential Discretionary Grant –Raif Badawi - June 10, 2021

Key messages

• The Government of Canada is very concerned by the case of Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia. His well-being is foremost in our minds.
• I am consulting with my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, regarding the separate motions made in the House and Senate.
• I cannot speak to any specifics related to individual cases in order to respect the privacy, security and safety of those individuals.

Supplementary messages

• The Government of Canada has consistently advocated on behalf of Mr. Badawi and will continue to use every opportunity to do so.
• Canada will always defend human rights throughout the world and we remain very concerned by the detention of Mr. Badawi. This is a very sensitive case and we will continue to put Mr. Badawi’s safety and security first.

Supporting facts and figures

• Raif Badawi is a Saudi Arabian writer and activist who was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012 on a charge of insulting Islam. He is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence [Redacted].
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• On January 27, 2021, by unanimous consent, the House of Commons resolved:

  “That this House call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to grant citizenship to Raif Badawi by exercising his discretion under section 5 of the Citizenship Act, which authorizes him to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship.”

• On January 28, March 22 and March 23, 2021, Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Member of Parliament for Lac Saint-Jean, called on the Minister to immediately grant citizenship to Mr. Badawi. He also called upon the Minister of Foreign Affairs to “…renew talks with Saudi Arabia to get citizen Badawi released.”
• On June 3, 2021, a motion with the same wording as the one presented in the House of Commons was adopted in the Senate.
• During Question Period on June 4, Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe called on the Minister to grant Mr. Badawi citizenship pursuant to the motion in the Senate and House of Commons.
• On June 8, 2021, the Quebec National Assembly voted on a motion without notice to acknowledge the motion passed by the Senate of Canada on June 3, 2021, calling on the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to grant citizenship to Mr. Badawi, and called on the Minister to take the necessary steps to grant Canadian citizenship to Mr. Badawi as soon as possible.
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Background

Discretionary Grants of Citizenship

• The Citizenship Act allows the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to use his or her discretion to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of statelessness and those 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.
• Discretionary authority to grant citizenship is broad and may be exercised if the Minister is satisfied that an individual meets the criteria. Generally, this requires engagement from the individual in the form of an application and supporting documentation to establish an individual meets the requirements of the Act. That said, the decision-maker may rely on other sources of information to render a decision.
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Requirement to take the Oath

• To acquire citizenship, the individual must take the Oath of Citizenship if they are 14 years of age and older. A waiver from taking the Oath is only possible if the applicant cannot understand the significance of the Oath because of mental disability. [Redacted].
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Consultations with Global Affairs Canada

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