armoured trucks

Thursday March 31, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday March 31, 2016 Cancelling Saudi arms deal would have no effect on human rights: Dion Foreign Affairs Minister StŽphane Dion is defending a controversial $15-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia by saying cancelling it would be a futile gesture because another country would simply supply the combat vehicles to Riyadh instead. ÒIt would not have an effect on human rights in Saudi Arabia,Ó Mr. Dion predicted, if the Liberals were to scrap a 14-year lucrative contract to build fighting machines that will be equipped with machine guns or anti-tank weapons. International censure of Saudi Arabia is on the increase as rights groups decry an erosion of human rights under the current leadership there. Only two weeks ago, the Dutch parliament voted to stop arms shipments to Saudi Arabia, and in February, the European Parliament passed a motion calling for the suspension of weapons sales to Riyadh. Mr. Dion used a Monday speech on the LiberalsÕ foreign policy to mount a hard-nosed defence of what is CanadaÕs largest-ever manufacturing contract Ð a transaction that was brokered by Ottawa under the former Conservative government and will benefit defence contractor General DynamicsÕ London, Ont., plant until 2028. ÒRiyadh does not care if the equipment comes from a factory in Lima, Ohio or Sterling Heights, Mich., rather than one in London, Ont.,Ó Mr. Dion said, naming American cities where military suppliers such as General Dynamics have a presence. More than 2,000 workers in Canada would lose their jobs if the government cancelled the deal, the minister predicted. Louise Arbour, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who once sat on the Supreme Court of Canada, was in the audience for Mr. DionÕs speech, and she said the contention that some other country would just take over the contract is Òthe weakest argumentÓ that could be made. ÒThis argument that if we donÕt do it somebody els

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 31, 2016

Cancelling Saudi arms deal would have no effect on human rights: Dion

Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion is defending a controversial $15-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia by saying cancelling it would be a futile gesture because another country would simply supply the combat vehicles to Riyadh instead.

“It would not have an effect on human rights in Saudi Arabia,” Mr. Dion predicted, if the Liberals were to scrap a 14-year lucrative contract to build fighting machines that will be equipped with machine guns or anti-tank weapons.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday January 6, 2016 Canada stands by $15B Saudi arms deal after executions A $15-billion contract signed under the previous government to supply Saudi Arabia with light-armoured military vehicles won't be revisited after the execution of dozens of prisoners in that country, the foreign minister says. Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric, was one of 47 prisoners recently executed by Saudi Arabia. "We have said during the campaign Ñ the prime minister has been very clear Ñ that we will not cancel this contract or contracts that have been done under the previous government in general," StŽphane Dion said Tuesday in an interview with Rosemary Barton on CBC's Power and Politics. "We'll review the process by which these contracts are assessed in the future. But what is done is done and the contract is not something that we'll revisit," Dion said. Since the Shia cleric's execution, a diplomatic row between Iran and Saudi Arabia has escalated. Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, predicted "divine vengeance" for the execution. Dion condemned the executions and the subsequent violence in Tehran directed at the Saudi embassy. He said Canada could play a more robust role in easing tensions between the two powers if it had a diplomatic relationship with Iran, despite its questionable record. "The fact that Canada is not in Tehran is helping nobody. It's not helping the population of Iran, it's not helping Saudi Arabia, it's not helping Israel Ñ so we need to engage Iran in trying to be positive in the region," the foreign minister said. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephane-dion-saudi-arms-deal-1.3390854 Canada, Iran, Saudi, Arabia, Sunni, Shia, Justin Trudeau, Sunny, ways, diplomacy

International censure of Saudi Arabia is on the increase as rights groups decry an erosion of human rights under the current leadership there. Only two weeks ago, the Dutch parliament voted to stop arms shipments to Saudi Arabia, and in February, the European Parliament passed a motion calling for the suspension of weapons sales to Riyadh.

Mr. Dion used a Monday speech on the Liberals’ foreign policy to mount a hard-nosed defence of what is Canada’s largest-ever manufacturing contract – a transaction that was brokered by Ottawa under the former Conservative government and will benefit defence contractor General Dynamics’ London, Ont., plant until 2028.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday January 19, 2016 TrudeauÕs silence on terrorism is deafening ItÕs early still in the life of this government. Yet with Prime Minister Justin TrudeauÕs Grits closing in on 100 days since their Oct. 19 electoral triumph, a pattern begins to emerge. ItÕs one that does the new regime and its leader little credit. It smacks of an inability or unwillingness to perceive sentiment beyond the urban Liberal echo chamber. It bespeaks a lack of imagination Ñ including an inability to imagine threats to the governmentÕs capacity to endure and succeed long-term. Tunnel vision and obduracy are not supposed to set in quite so soon. LetÕs begin with this: TrudeauÕs Achilles heel. Every politician seems to have one. For this PM, for the longest time, it was his tendency to blurt silly things about serious geopolitical issues at inopportune times. There was his tone-deaf statement in an interview with the CBC that the Boston Marathon bombers must have felt excluded; his offhand praise of ChinaÕs system of government; his curious joke about the Russians invading Ukraine over hockey. Most memorably, there was the juvenile quip about former prime minister Stephen Harper whipping out CanadaÕs CF-18s to Òshow them how big they are.Ó That series of gaffes, combined with TrudeauÕs decision in the fall of 2014 to vote against Canadian participation in the U.S.-led air war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, was a factor in the collapse in public support that led to the Liberals entering last yearÕs election campaign an underdog. That they recovered and won resoundingly is a testament to TrudeauÕs political skills and the quality of the campaign he ran. None of that mitigates that his perceived instincts and judgment about foreign policy Ñ especially as concerns the war against Islamist, jihadist terrorism Ñ are his greatest weakness. Tonally this manifests as an inability, or unwillingness, to emit more th

“Riyadh does not care if the equipment comes from a factory in Lima, Ohio or Sterling Heights, Mich., rather than one in London, Ont.,” Mr. Dion said, naming American cities where military suppliers such as General Dynamics have a presence.

More than 2,000 workers in Canada would lose their jobs if the government cancelled the deal, the minister predicted.

Friday, September 5, 2014Louise Arbour, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who once sat on the Supreme Court of Canada, was in the audience for Mr. Dion’s speech, and she said the contention that some other country would just take over the contract is “the weakest argument” that could be made.

“This argument that if we don’t do it somebody else will do it I find, frankly, the least convincing,” she said. “It is not infused with moral, ethical values.”

She said there are better reasons to justify sticking with the Saudi deal and would like to see Mr. Dion “do a balancing of consequences,” such as reputational, financial, jobs and the impact of doing nothing at all, including “Canada being seen as validating a regime that is at odds with a lot of Canadian values.”

Ms. Arbour said she hopes the federal government applies more rigour to examining weapons export permits, as it has repeatedly promised. (Source: Globe & Mail)

 

Posted alongside a related article on iPolitics.