Canada refuses to cancel arms deal with Saudi Arabia despite slamming its mass execution

Notwithstanding the Canadian government’s open condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s mass execution of 47 people on Jan 2, it has announced that the controversial CA$15-billion (AU15.09 billion) arms sale to that Middle East nation will stay.

Canada had expressed shock and anguish at the mass execution. In a statement by Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, Canada decried the capital punishment and urged the Saudis to respect peaceful dissent and honour human rights.

Among those executed in Saudi included a controversial Shia cleric, Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, whose death later triggered violent protests in the Shia world. In the aftermath of the protests, Saudi Arabia snapped diplomatic ties with Iran.

There was surprise in Canada’s decision to proceed with the deal to supply armoured fighting vehicles as the recipient country’s human rights record is very important. For Canada, the arms deal will help in sustaining 3,000 jobs for 14 years, reports The Globe and Mail.

However, critics of the deal, including Project Ploughshares and Amnesty International are citing Riyadh’s questionable human-rights record. They argue that the transaction would violate Canada’s export-control regime.

No cancellation

“A private company is delivering the goods according to a signed contract with the government of Saudi Arabia. The government of Canada has no intention of cancelling that contract,” announced Adam Barratt, director of communications to the Foreign Minister.

Under the Federal rules, Ottawa has the power to review arms deals to countries with poor human-rights record, if it feels the deal would endanger the safety of local population.

Hard earned deal

The deal was struck by the former Conservative government led by Stephen Harper with a Federal Corporation brokering the agreement on behalf of General Dynamics Land Systems Canada.

The crown agency, Canadian Commercial Corporation, is vested with the responsibility to deliver the light armoured vehicles to Riyadh. They will be manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ontario and will have automatic weapons. It has been claimed that the LAV 6.0 model has “effective firepower to defeat soft and armoured targets.”

A spokesman for General Dynamics Land Systems confirmed that the company has started the “material procurement phase” of the LAV contract and is acquiring components to build the product.

Shia protest

Meanwhile, nearly 500 Shia protesters held a noisy demonstration at Canada’s Parliament Hill on Wednesday and urged the government to cancel the arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

The Shia protesters were drawn from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. They held demonstrations at the Peace Tower and outside the embassies of the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Later a delegation met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and urged more action to condemn the abuse of human rights by Saudi Arabia. They wanted the arms deal cancelled even at the cost of Canada’s commercial and political interests, reports Ottawa Citizen.

“We’re here today to ask the government to rethink its policy when it comes to Saudi Arabia,” said Toronto Imam Asad Jafri, one of the protesters.