Honourable senators, I welcome this amendment and thank all of you who have supported it. I want to clarify that this motion has opened up a pathway for us, as Canadian senators, to join parliamentary colleagues in many countries and interparliamentary associations to support another senator imprisoned under conditions that are likely impossible for us, as Canadian senators, to even imagine. In particular, I wish to thank Senators Housakos and Boehm for their counsel and their willingness to support this motion as amended by Senator Harder.

Senator de Lima is watching and listening from her cell via her supporters. About two weeks ago, I received a letter from her. She wrote:

Warm greetings from my detention quarters at Philippine National Custodial Center. . . . Four years of detention have passed, yet human rights violations are still rampant, activists are becoming victims of extrajudicial killings, voices of critics are being constantly silenced but despite all these, I remain enthused because fellow human rights defenders and legislators . . . persistently monitor and denounce the abuses worldwide.

Dear colleagues, this will make a substantive difference for Senator de Lima. Thank you for expressing your concern for this senator and for your respect for democracy and the rule of law.

Your Honour, I wish to call the question, please.