Should Canada re-establish full diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia?

Photo: The Canadian Press/Rungroj Yongrit/Pool Photo via AP

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Canada and Saudi Arabia are normalizing diplomatic relations and appointing ambassadors five years after the Liberal government's public comments on women's rights led Riyadh to expel the Canadian ambassador.

Canada and Saudi Arabia are normalizing diplomatic relations and appointing ambassadors five years after the Liberal government's public comments on women's rights led Riyadh to expel the top Canadian envoy.

In 2018, Global Affairs Canada tweeted that it wanted Saudi Arabia to "immediately release" human-rights activists who had been detained.

Both countries maintained their embassies, but Saudi Arabia downgraded its presence in Ottawa and halted trade talks with Canada, saying it was unacceptable for the Canadians to weigh in on Saudi Arabia's justice system.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Wednesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed during a chat last November that they wanted to restore diplomatic relations.

The department said this discussion took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok.

At the time, reporters noted Trudeau had attended a lunch with leaders including Prince Mohammed, who is Saudi Arabia's prime minister. That day, Trudeau played down the notion that Ottawa was seeking to restore ties.

"When we're in these summits, we attend a wide range of sessions with many people around the table, and it's extremely important that Canadians can know that regardless of who's around the table, regardless of whom we're speaking to, we always stand up clearly for human rights," Trudeau said at a Nov. 18 press conference.

Now, the department says the two countries are putting their ties back to where they were in five years ago "on the basis of mutual respect and common interests."

Dennis Horak, the Canadian ambassador who was expelled during the 2018 spat, said in an interview that Ottawa needs to seize on the momentum to build closer ties with Saudi Arabia, since it's a key ally with an "increasingly prominent role" in countries from Syria to Yemen.

"Re-establishing ambassadorial relations is a good first step, but it needs to be accompanied by a sustained engagement at senior levels," Horak told The Canadian Press.

He said his ouster partly stemmed from Canada not having connections with senior Saudi leadership through ministerial visits. This led Canada to be seen as expendable, he said.

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