OTTAWA — A group of peace and human rights organizations is renewing a call on the Trudeau government to rescind export permits for the sale of Canadian-made, armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
The group, which includes Amnesty International, Project Ploughshares and the Rideau Institute, say the deal flies in the face of a Liberal government pledge to reinvigorate Canada's standing on the world stage.
In an open letter to the prime minister, the organizations say the $15 billion arms deal breaks both the spirit and the letter of Canada's export controls and international laws.
So far, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained that cancelling the deal, brokered by the previous Conservative government, would give Canada a bad trading reputation.
He has also pointed out that a lot of Canadian jobs are at stake.
But the organizations argue that going ahead with the deal undermines public trust in the export control system and the core values that define Canada's character as a nation.
