Canada will not cancel its $14.8 billion military contract with Saudi Arabia, brokered in 2014, through which it supplies the country with light armoured vehicles. The deal has returned to prominence due the Saudi government’s January 2 mass execution of 47 people, including a prominent Shia cleric, which sparked global protests and resulted in a break in diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Human rights groups, meanwhile, have voiced concerns over the Saudi Arabia using the vehicles against their own citizens. While, confirming that the Canadian government will not seek to cancel any existing contract with Saudi Arabia, Global Affairs minister, Stephane Dion also emphasized the government’s pledge: “to move forward in a way that is much more transparent and accountable and open about the choices that we make than this government has been and we also pledge to sign international Arms Trade Treaty, which Canada is the only NATO country not to have signed.”

Global News