While many (but not our strangely silent allies) have cheered Canada's tweet critical of Saudi Arabia's abuse of human rights' activists, it has not escaped others that the gesture has the stench of hypocrisy about it. The Star's Tony Burman reminds us:
that it was this Liberal government that approved the $15-billion deal to sell military vehicles to Saudi Arabia originally worked out by the previous Harper government. There is reason to believe that some of these vehicles have been used by the Saudis to crush the very internal dissent that Canada embraces.Similarly, Star letter writers offer some critical thinking:
If the Middle East has taught us anything, it is that talk is cheap.
The Canadian admonition of the Saudi government is evidently hypocritical, and lacks moral integrity.My guess is, had Canada known the kind of overreaction its tweet would provoke from the Saudis, it would not have issued such a public castigation of the dictatorial state. On the other hand, I'm sure there is a bright side to the whole situation, as a government and a prime minister hoping for reelection can now once more assert to a largely uncritical world that Canada is back; it certainly worked wonders for Justin Trudeau's image when he declaimed thus after winning the last election.
Hamid S. Atiyyah, Markham
So Canada will have to stop selling weapons of war to the Saudi Arabians for them to use against their own people and against civilians in Yemen.
Good.
Alan Craig, Brampton
A year ago it was reported that Canada was Saudi Arabia’s second largest arms supplier. While Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland expresses outrage at Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses, she conveniently turns a blind eye to scathing reports by UN officials and a long list of civil society groups over Canada’s lucrative weapons trade in defiance of international norms.
Joe Davidson, Toronto
Lord knows, given the massive disappointment he has been on so many fronts, a little prolonged diversion may be just what the spin doctor ordered.
Lorne,
ReplyDeleteThere's a longstanding loophole in the laws covering Military and Police Equiptment sales to Human Rights violators. It dates back to when our Cold War Partners included Dictarorships like Korea and Greece, and even some NATO Allies.
It allows on Review, the sale of "non-lethal" gear like teargas, trucks, uniforms, comm gear, unarmed aircraft, even if it will be used to repress people "indirectly".
Because the "warwagons" are leaving Canada with out any weapon systems, the Harper Government "loopholed" it by stretching it past the breaking point.
The Trudeau Government was stuck in the position that cancelling the sale would have created a diplomatic mess, and a mass of Investor/Corporate lawsuits under WTO/NAFTA rules, that Canada would lose.
Parliament needs to consider the changing world and close that loophole to gear that can be indirectly/non-lethal be used to repress people. Basically, MRE's, medicine, Medical Equiptment, Uniforms.
There should be, a constant program, ( perhaps in law), reevaluating our political, economic and social relations with nations as the world changes. Moreso when a "more moral" Government replaces a "less moral" one.
The relationship with Saudi Arabia should have been reevaluated after 9/11, etc, but it wasn't.
Maybe, as things happen, maybe it will.
Thanks for that clarification, Jay, and I agree, loopholes must be closed.
DeleteI wrote about the fact that Canada talks a good game about human rights but, when it comes to Saudi Arabia, talk is cheap. Sweden locked horns with the Saudi thugs and cut off all arms sales to the kingdom. Germany had a similar experience and banned the export of all weapons to nation's at war with Yemen (i.e. Saudi Arabia). We're self-righteously indignant but have no intention of stopping the export of Death Wagons to the Saudis despite plenty of evidence that they're often used for the very purposes the Saudis have promised they won't be used - to oppress the Shiite minority and crush pro-democracy dissidents.
ReplyDeletePart of our problem is that General Dynamics land systems is a Canadian subsidiary of an American defence contractor and we might get our assess sued under a free trade agreement (ISDS). Trudeau seems as passionate a fan of these agreements as his predecessor willing to compromise our national sovereignty to boost trade.
When you lay down with dogs, like the princes of Saudi Arabia, you get up with fleas.
Yes, I read your post, Mound, and agree with your assessments. As well, you will notice that Jay in his comment above raises the same concern about a NAFTA lawsuit.
DeleteThere are details of the secret Harper contract that we are not aware of.
DeleteUU
Would these be details of 'confidentiality clauses' for competitive reasons, UU?
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