How Saudi Arabia, and a $15B armoured vehicle deal, became an election issue

Niqabs, the economy, national unity all issues that predictably came up in Thursday night's French-language debate.

But few had forecastthatCanada's relations with Saudi Arabia, and specifically, a multibillion-dollar contract to sell armoured vehicles to the country,woulderupt as an issue. It made for one of the more interesting exchanges of the night, and a reprieve for debate watchers tiring of the party leaders covering the same old ground.

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The issueof whether Canada should be involved in such a deal with a country witha poor human rights recordcarried forward Friday.Conservative Leader StephenHarper, as he did the night before, defended the$15-billion deal that Canada helped securelast year, under whichthe London, Ont.-basedmanufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems will sell armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

At a campaign stop inRivire-du-Loup, Que., Harper was asked whetherhe was putting Canadianjobs ahead of human rightsconcerns.

"As I've said in the debate, it'sfrankly all of our partners and allies who were pursuing that contract, not just Canada. So this isa deal frankly with a country, and notwithstanding its human rights violations, which are significant, this isa contract witha country that is an ally in thefighting against the Islamic State. Acontractthatany oneof our allies would have signed," he said.

No sense to pull contract: Harper

"We expressed our outrage, our disagreement from time to timewith the government of Saudi Arabia for their treatment of humanrights, but I don't think it makes any sense to pull a contract in away that would only punish Canadian workersinsteadofactuallyexpressing our outrage at some of these things inSaudiArabia."

In a news release last February, the government said the 14-year-contractwouldbenefitmore than 500 local Canadian firms andcreate and sustain more than 3,000 jobs each year in Canada, with southern Ontario accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the supply base.

Electorally, the region is also important. As CBC's ric Grenier recently noted, the electoral map of southwestern Ontario,a little more Conservative in recent years,may be swinging back, withboth the Liberals and New Democrats hoping to pick up seats.

Politics aside, the deal has raised questions about whether some of thoseCanadian-made vehicles could be usedagainst Saudi Arabia's own citizens. But Thursday's debate also raised the cases of two Saudis, imprisoned for speaking out against their country.

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr faces beheading and crucifixion for taking part in a protest during the Arab Spring in2012 when he was 17. And Raif Badawi,abloggerwho was found guiltyof insulting Islamic values and"promoting liberal thought,"was sentenced to1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison. Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haidar, and the couple's three children now live in Sherbrooke, Que., after escaping Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Cancel the contract?

During the debate, one of the moderators asked if, as a form of sanction, the government should cancel the contract.Bloc Qubcois Leader GillesDuceppeand NDP Leader Tom Mulcairalsochallenged Harper on the military sales to Saudi Arabia.

Harper said his government hasalways denounced human rights abuses, but suggested that didn't mean the military deal should be sacrificed.

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"We've indicated we would welcome Mr.Badawi, who is not aCanadian citizen, at any moment," said Harper,

"But it's not right to punish workers in a factory in London, [Ont.] for this. It doesn't make sense."

On Friday, whenMulcairwasasked about the issue, he said Harper may be violating rules by making such a deal without asking questions about the human rights record of Saudi Arabia.

Mulcairsaid his government would ensure it analyzedthe human rights record of any country in whichit intendedto signan agreement on arms.

'Pragmatic approach'

But human rights quite often take a back seat inthe world of geopolitics.Inaninterview earlier this yearwithCBC'sBrentBambury, Thomas Juneau, a former Middle East analyst for the Defence Department,said Canada certainlyhas a commercial interest inSaudiArabia,one of the biggest economies in the Middle East.

ButCanada and the U.S. and its other allies perceive Saudi Arabia as a stabilizing force in the Middle East, one that opposes Iran.

"I think that in its relationship to Saudi Arabia, the Conservative government has taken quite a pragmatic approach. The Conservatives pride themselves on having a principled foreign policy, and in some cases that's true and in other cases it's not," Juneausaid.

"Saudi Arabia is one of the cases where principle is completely trumped by pragmatism. The pragmatism in our relationship with Saudi Arabia is the trade argument the armoured vehicles but trade more broadly, and the partnership with a country that's aligned with some of, not all, but some of our geopolitical interests."

"I think the key point to remember, broadly speaking, is that that's the norm," Juneau said. "We may lament that, we may find that unfortunate, but in most cases for Canada, as for other countries, that's the nature of international politics, as ugly as it is in many cases."