Five years after an unprecedented coldness between the two nations, Canada and Saudi Arabia announce the resumption of diplomatic relations “at previous levels”.
In a statement, Global Affairs reports that the change of course comes as a result of a discussion between Justin Trudeau and the Crown Prince of the Gulf Kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit in Bangkok on November 18, 2022.
The Ambassador-elect is Senior Official Jean-Philippe Linteau, who has held the post of Consul General in Dubai since 2019.
Relations were severely shaken after a tweet from former Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who said she was “deeply concerned” by a series of arrests against regime protesters, including Samar Badawi, sister of Raïf Badawi, who was calling for his release.
Global Affairs Canada reports that in 2021, “Canadian exports were $2.2 billion and imports were $2.4 billion.”
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“Canadian imports consisted almost entirely of petroleum and petrochemicals,” it says, while “Canadian exports consisted of 81% transportation equipment.”
We should also remember the gargantuan Canadian arms deal that Saudi Arabia signed in 2014, valued at $14 billion.