Saudi Arabia: Scheduling Snafu and Marvin Rotrand

saudi arabia: Plante explained a scheduling snafu prevented Ensaf Haidar from attending the brief ceremony, but Haidar was in the spectators' gallery later when councillors voted to grant the citizenship, according to The Chronicle Herald. Coun. A ceremony attended by Mayor Valerie Plante took place without the blogger's wife present. Marvin Rotrand, who had presented the motion alongside the opposition Ensemble Montreal, said he is hopeful the vote will carry the weight necessary to get other cities to add their support and keep up pressure to get Badawi freed. We want Saudi Arabia to know we are not going away, that there will be a political cost and an ongoing cost and the movement is not going to die out but grow larger over time, Rotrand told a news conference. Rotrand said he has also received assurances the provincial and federal governments would ratchet up the pressure. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.