The Canadian government is taking action in the case of a Digby fisherman imprisoned in Spain.

The Minister of State of Foreign Affairs has applied for Phillip Halliday's trial to be expedited on compassionate and humanitarian grounds due to his failing health.

"The most exciting thing is that the minister…has written a letter to the new prime minister of Spain and she has asked that Phillip's trial be held right away," says his wife Sheree Halliday.

The 55-year-old has liver disease, a tumour on his kidney and his gall bladder was removed.

He has been detained in a Spanish prison since drugs were discovered on the ship were he was working on December 21, 2009, off the coast of Spain.

Since his arrest, Halliday has said he knew nothing about the cocaine that was found on board the Destiny Empress freighter.

"He's quite depressed," says Sheree Halliday. "I've noticed lately he's anxious more so than before. But as of today, he's excited."

But unfortunately for the couple, it's not all good news. Halliday says his Spanish-speaking lawyer misrepresented him at a hearing.

"He told the judges that Phillip would accept a plea bargain for a lesser sentence and that wasn't true. That's never been true. Phillip would never admit to a crime that he didn't commit."

The Halliday's fired the Spanish lawyer this week.

Halifax lawyer Kevin Burke left for Spain Thursday. He hopes to introduce Phillip Halliday to some new lawyers in Spain and make sure things are being handled properly.

But with legal fees reaching more than $85,000, the house their son built for them is now up for sale.

Sheree Halliday says the cupboards haven't even been built in their kitchen yet.

"The whole reason Phillip took this trip was to buy the wood so he could build the kitchen cupboards."

She hopes the government's request for a speedy trial works, and if not, she says she will do whatever it takes to bring her husband back home to Nova Scotia.

"It's a house. It's a roof and four walls, and without him in it, it doesn't feel like home. It hasn't in two years."

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell