Earlier this month, Canada’s new Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion quietly issued export permits for a $15 billion sale of about 1,000 combat vehicles to Saudi Arabia, the green light for a highly controversial deal many Canadians thought had already been granted. It is the largest arms export contract in Canadian history.
Information on Dion’s decision was subsequently released by Canada’s Justice Department in response to a lawsuit seeking to block the sales. The revelation countered claims by the Trudeau government that its hands were tied on the sale by the previous Harper government.
General Dynamics Canada and its predecessor have sold Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs) to the Saudis since the 1990s. The latest deal commits to sustaining 2,100 jobs in London and 900 spread over its Canadian supply chain. An opinion survey by Nanos Research, however, indicates that six in ten Canadians think it is more important to ensure that arms go only to nations that “respect human rights” than to support employment over 14 years in economically depressed southwestern Ontario.
