Canada to Freeze Armored Vehicle Exports to Saudi Arabia

Local Editor

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s willing to freeze exports of armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia, as the opposition presses the federal government to follow Germany’s lead in suspending military shipments to the kingdom over the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia is the second-biggest arms market for both Canada and Germany, purchasing about half a billion dollars in military goods from each annually.

Earlier Sunday, Berlin froze all exports until the Khashoggi investigation is concluded, but Ottawa has not matched that action.

But in Question Period on Monday, Trudeau noted his government has committed to strengthening arms export controls in Bill C-47.

He then added, “We have frozen export permits before, when we had concerns about their potential misuse, and we will not hesitate to do so again.”

Trudeau was referring to August, 2017, when his government stopped approving permits for arms exports to Saudi Arabia after it began an investigation into Riyadh’s deployment of Canadian-made armored vehicles against Saudi citizens. Ottawa also temporarily suspended export permits issued for the armored-vehicle maker whose machines were photographed and videotaped taking part in the crackdown.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team