The Saudi Arabia arms sale has been a hotly debated topic in the news lately. It has put a spotlight on our government, and the people want some answers. The deal came into the spotlight due to the recent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a staunch critic of the Saudi Arabian government. The gruesome murder itself had people questioning Canada’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, but also brought out the critics of our ties with the Saudis and the arms deal.
The Saudi Arabia arms deal was contracted out by the Conservative government and approved by Stephen Harper in 2014. The arms deal is a $15 billion contract that includes a substantial number of heavy assault vehicles and a deal to provide ongoing maintenance and training for 14 years, according to the CBC. The critics of the arms deal argue that we should not be selling weapons to a country that has absolutely no regard for human rights. All signs point to us continuing through with the deal, with Trudeau commenting about not wanting the Canadian taxpayers to be left with “a billion dollar bill,” according to the Financial Post. That, combined with silence from the Conservative party about the issue, makes it more than likely that not many in our government plan on scrapping this deal. But we need to take a look at our values and what we are trying to achieve through our foreign policy. We as a country need to define what we are actually trying to achieve by being allies with Saudi Arabia. Are we trying to influence them into being more Westernized, or are we trying to have a strong ally in the Middle East?
Why do we have to go through with this deal? The fact of the matter is that our reliance on Saudi oil imports and Saudi Arabia being one of our strongest allies in the Middle East makes this a complicated issue. The deal is also said to include clauses that would incur heavy financial penalties in the case of cancellation, which has been one of the main arguments used by Trudeau to not cancel the deal.
Pulling out of the deal at this point would be more of a feel-good strategy than an actual acknowledgement that Saudi Arabia is a fundamentally different country from us, and that they don’t have the same standards of human rights that we do. The ongoing support of Saudi Arabia in our “fight” against Iran and its quiet support of Israel puts us in a tough spot. Those are two foreign policy issues that we as Canadians are emotionally charged about. Thomas Juneau, writing for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, states that “A sober weighing of its pros and cons and of how it fits in the broader partnership between Saudi Arabia and the West, however, leads to the assessment that the government is right to uphold the deal.”
Our foreign policy is lacking. We don’t really define what we are trying to achieve, but rather, just wing it. This is demonstrated by the fact that the government in power right now has plenty to say about human rights violations, but doesn’t bother to do anything substantial. Let’s say that we are trying to influence Saudi Arabia so that they become more Westernized — then why are we openly having diplomatic feuds on Twitter? I’m referring to the time where Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland thought it right to openly criticize the Saudi Arabian government for human rights violations on Twitter, of all places. In retaliation to that, the Saudi Arabian government kicked out our ambassador, brought all their students studying abroad in Canada home, and are trying to cut off all trade ties.
My problem with all this is the fact that we sit on the fence: we criticize Saudi Arabia, and yet we sell weapons to them. Either we need to stop criticizing them and realize that the country is slowly becoming better and that it will take time, or we need to force our values upon them and make them change now. The decision is up to you to make on where we should stand, but we cannot be in the middle — we can’t be hypocrites.
So why does this matter to you as a student? I know what you’re thinking: why should I give a crap? I have a job I have to work, I have assignments to hand in, tests to write, social life to figure out. So why does this matter? Well if you truly believe yourself to be Canadian, champions of human rights and a safe haven for the oppressed, then take a stance and hold your elected representatives accountable. If you think that this doesn’t affect you or that this is a world away, well, then it’s just a matter of time until the world comes knocking on your door. And I hope for you that you don’t plead ignorance.
