OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will stand firm in its ongoing diplomatic battle with Saudi Arabia.
Trudeau says he will always take strong and clear positions in private and in public on questions of human rights.
He says that is what Canadians expect of his government.
Trudeau was speaking in Montreal this afternoon at a news conference regarding funding for aerospace company CAE.
The prime minister added that Canada respects the importance of Saudi Arabia in the world and recognizes it has made progress on a number of important issues.
Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations with Canada on Sunday in response to a tweet from Global Affairs Canada that criticized the Saudis for the arrest of social activists.
The kingdom has also cancelled new trading with Canada, rescinded student scholarships and recalled thousands of Saudi students studying in Canada and barred Canadian wheat imports.
One media report even has banks and state-owned pension funds being ordered to sell all their Canadian assets.
SAUDI ARABIA REPORTEDLY DIRECTING SELLOFF OF CANADIAN ASSETS AFTER CRITICISM
TORONTO — Saudi Arabia has directed asset managers to sell off Canadian equities as part of an escalating response to criticism from Canada according to a report by the Financial Times.
The Saudi central bank and state pension funds have sent instructions to overseas asset managers to dispose of Canadian equities, bond, and cash holdings at any cost, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.
The report comes a day after the Toronto Stock Market saw a major selloff from an unknown international dealer, in contrast to gains in other global markets.
The equities selloff comes after Canada's Global Affairs Ministry expressed concern about the arrest and detention of a female blogger and activist in Saudi Arabia, prompting the kingdom to respond forcefully.
Saudi Arabia has declared a freeze on new trade with Canada and recalled thousands of students attending Canadian universities following the tweet last week from Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The Saudi foreign ministry has also ordered Canada's ambassador, Dennis Horak, to leave the country. Saudia Airlines has also announced it will suspend flights to and from Canada starting Aug. 13.
AS SAUDI MEDICAL RESIDENTS FACE RECALL HOME, QUESTIONS REMAIN ABOUT IMPACT ON CANADA
MONTREAL — Health officials are trying to determine the consequences to hospitals across the country after Saudi Arabia demanded as many as 800 Saudi doctors and residents leave Canada and return home.
Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations and imposed a series of measures aimed at hurting Canada economically on Sunday in response to a federal government tweet criticizing the Saudis for the arrest of social activists.
The Saudi government has recalled all of its students studying in Canada, including its medical students, who make up the vast majority of trainees in the country, according to the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Canada.
Salvatore Spadafora, vice-dean of post-MD education at the University of Toronto's faculty of medicine, said today the Saudi bureau has allowed Saudi trainees to stay until Sept. 1.
While the 216 Saudi residents and fellows in Toronto represent a small fraction of the total number in Canada's largest health network, Spadafora says he can't say the impact will be zero.
