Appeal court hears challenge of Saudi armoured vehicle sale
The Canadian government didn’t analyze the risk for civilians in Yemen before it issued export licences to sell military vehicles to Saudi Arabia, a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world and which is currently involved in an armed conflict in Yemen, lawyers for Daniel Turp argued on Wednesday, as part of an effort to have the authorizations cancelled.
According to Turp, this omission means Canada should be forced to reconsider its decision “which does not respect human rights.”
The arguments were made before the Federal Court of Appeal in Montreal on Wednesday.
The former Bloc Québécois MP, Parti Québécois MNA and law professor is challenging the government’s decision to award the licences for a $15-billion sale of military equipment. The light armoured vehicles in question are made in London, Ont., by the company General Dynamics Land Systems.
“Choosing the economy and business over the protection of innocent lives is not only unreasonable, it’s inhumane,” reads the first line of Turp’s appeal.
He is asking the court to review whether the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Stéphane Dion, respected the laws and criteria in place before granting the licence. That includes whether the merchandise or technology being exported could potentially harm the security of Canada or harm peace, security or stability anywhere in the world. The export control manual also says that merchandise must not be used to commit human rights violations.
The Federal Court ruled in favour of Ottawa last January. The court found that Dion respected the law, considered the pertinent factors in his evaluation of the risks involved and properly used the discretion he possessed on the issue.
Turp is appealing that decision. In court on Wednesday morning, André Lespérance, one of Turp’s lawyers, said that when Dion was advised what was happening in Yemen, he said he couldn’t cancel the contract because it would cost money. That’s not a criteria of the law, Lespérance said.
The contract to sell the light armoured vehicles was signed under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, but it was the current Liberal government that issued the export licences in April 2016.
Canadian government lawyers have argued that the vehicles have been exported to Saudi Arabia for 25 years and there has been no evidence they were used against civilians.
They argued that the Federal Court is not the place for political debates and that its role is limited to determining if the minister considered the relevant factors and laws when he made his decision.
The believe that Turp is erroneously asking the Federal Court of Appeals to substitute itself for the minister and to redo the risk analysis.
The problem is that (Turp) doesn’t like the conclusion, Bernard Letartre, one of the government lawyers, said in court.
The minister has wide discretion to authorize export licences, and not only considered human rights but also the economic benefits of the exports.
There are no sanctions or international bans on exporting military equipment to Saudi Arabia, Letartre said.
Even if the minister believed there was a risk the equipment would be misused, he would still have had the discretion to issue the licences, if they were justified for other reasons, government lawyers argued in a court filing.