In the midst of Canada’s vigorous debate on the nature of “Canadian-ness,” an almost universally-held narrative is how we value human rights. Former Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson invented UN peacekeeping. We are known to the world over as a welcoming and diverse global mosaic, standing for freedom, democracy, and pluralism of both identity and thought.
But, with the existence of our actively colonial relationship with Indigenous peoples and close links to a global Americanism widely perceived to be fascist and/or imperialist, Canada’s international reputation as a human rights defender has been rightfully challenged. The Saudi Arabian diplomatic crisis that has emerged provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate our desire to reclaim that status.
Raif Badawi, a secular free speech activist and blogger, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for criticizing clerics, under Saudi Arabia’s draconian, theocratic legal system. Badawi’s sister, Samar Badawi, was also arrested earlier this month. Canada has demanded their release, and the Saudi government—led by seemingly-reformed Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman al-Saud—has apparently found this request intolerable.
In response, the Saudis have highlighted Canada’s abuses of Indigenous peoples and its refusal to recognize Palestinian self-determination, as—fair—examples of its human rights hypocrisy. Also, Canada recently sold $15 billion in weapons to the Saudi regime—many of which have ended up being used against Saudi civilians and activists.
The Saudi regime’s cruelty towards outsiders has been repeatedly displayed in its invasion of Yemen—with at least 29 children mindlessly slaughtered in a school bus air strike earlier this month. The House of Al-Saud has spent millions funding theocratic and fascist jihadi violence, turning some Sunnis against their Shia, Jewish, Christian, and non-religious neighbours. This conveniently legitimizes the “radical/barbarian” narrative advanced by their Western allies—sowing the seeds of ostracization and discord for Muslims around the world.
Additionally, Asian foreign workers in Saudi Arabia—especially non-Muslim and non-Arab ones—are subjected to deep-seated racism, sexism, religious bigotry, and near-slavery working conditions.
The country’s unwavering ultraconservatism manifested yet again with Saudi prosecutors seeking the death penalty for five human rights activists, including Israa Al-Ghomgham, who is condemned to be beheaded for her human rights campaigning. Around the same time, a man accused of theft and murder was publicly crucified in the holy city of Mecca.
The Trudeau administration, domestic progressives, and indeed the whole national narrative have pledged to advance the cause of modernity—but are often reluctant to recognize that censuring and defunding religious fundamentalist, totalitarian regimes must be part of that effort.
We have taken the first steps to combat this egregious conduct, but prioritizing military-industrial spending in society prevents us from taking bigger, more costly, yet necessary measures to stand up to regimes that violate basic human rights principles.
If our rhetoric about feminism, reconciliation, and environmental protection are to hold any weight, then ensuring our foreign policy is explicitly pro-democracy and anti-war is vital in our decolonization and national renovation efforts. This can be done by cutting ties with the Saudi regime and other imperialist players and encouraging other nations to do the same.
We must ask ourselves: why do we fear standing in solidarity with grassroots secular Saudi activists, who are fighting for the rights that we consider universal and fundamental to our national identity?
It is imperative that the politeness we are known for does not turn into complacency, willful ignorance or complicity in systemic injustice, as has been typical of our relations with Indigenous peoples, both at home and abroad—lest the image of Canada’s democratic integrity be irreparably tarnished.
