A young man in Saudi Arabia is less than a month away from being beheaded for his part in a school yard brawl that ended with the death of an 18 year old student. Mohammed Kohail, who is a Canadian citizen, is only a few days from the chopping block, and Canada is seriously dragging its feet, and has refused to demand clemency, or take any diplomatic action.

This is all part of the Conservative Administration’s new policy of no longer seeking clemency for citizens who are sentenced to death in countries with an elected and democratic government. In other words, if you are convicted and sentenced to death in, say, Montana, you’re on your own.

There was a time not so long ago that the Canadian Government actually took a stand behind its commitment against the death penalty. The reversal of this policy is more evidence that the very conservative element of government now in power has no real problem with death sentences. Their failure to condemn this practice is a reigning endorsement, and seriously contradicts the majority’s attitude towards the practice.

This is now exacerbated by the fact Canada has dragged its feet on this issue in order to avoid poor diplomatic conditions with Saudi Arabia, since they would essentially put it in a different category than ‘democratic countries’ according to the new policy.

So disastrous is this new attitude we are now collectively responsible for the deaths of any citizen traveling abroad who is sentenced to death. We are, through proxy, part of the mechanism which will bring the end of this young man’s life. Forget the fact his trial lasted on 90 minutes, or the judge didn’t even allow any testimony on behalf of the defendant. The issue is how this country deals with the protection of its citizens according to our laws and values. The Conservative government, in their growing ambition to usurp the humanitarian values of this nation, have proven once again why they are not proper representatives of this country. Shame on you, Mr. Harper, for making me a part of this mechanism of death.