A round of tut-tuts

Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland may be “deeply concerned” about Saudi Arabia’s reported use of Canadian-manufactured armoured vehicles against Saudi citizens.

But she doesn’t seem worried enough to take effective action.

The Canadian government and Ms. Freeland may have raised their voices to express concerns about alleged human rights violations inside the Middle East powerhouse nation. But Ottawa didn’t lift a finger to halt or delay the $15-billion shipment of light armoured vehicles from a London, Ont., firm.

The contract was struck under the former Conservative government; the Trudeau Liberals refused to cancel it last year under considerable pressure from groups like Amnesty International.

As political scientist Donald Savoie has framed this issue, the federal government only seemed to have moral qualms about becoming a vendor at the Middle East arms bazaar when it was proposed that equipment might be manufactured on Cape Breton Island.

Today, Ottawa doesn’t seem overly troubled that armoured vehicles made by Terradyne Armored Vehicles Inc., another Ontario firm, are reportedly being deployed against Shiite militants in Qatif province. There have also been reports that Canadian equipment has been used by Saudi armed forces in neighbouring Yemen, in actions that activists have described as war crimes.

So far, the Liberal government has refused NDP requests for an open investigation of the issue by a House of Commons committee. Instead, Ottawa is proceeding to investigate this issue on its own, while cabinet ministers like Ms. Freeland continue to express their “concerns” about the situation in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

In short, the Trudeau Liberals seem less than anxious to provide the public with a better understanding of how Canadian military equipment is being used in the Middle East and can’t seem to get beyond saying “Tut, tut” in the face of alleged human rights abuses and war crimes.

This is not good enough. When it comes to its own conduct, the Saudi leadership has long been immune to moral suasion. The Saudi ambassador to Canada, for instance, went so far as to call a news conference to tell Ottawa to cease and desist in its criticism of the treatment accorded blogger Raid Badawi, who was given the lash and 10 years in prison for criticizing the Saudi government.

Ms. Freeland’s department has stated she will “take action” if it is found that Canadian exports have been used to commit serious violations of human rights.”

So far, though, Ottawa isn’t in too much of a hurry to establish the facts with regard to alleged Saudi atrocities.

Until it does so, and does so publicly, its position on this issue deserves to be dismissed as morally bankrupt.