McLeod Group guest blog by Marc-André Anzueto, September 17, 2018
“How shall we behave in a world we no longer dominate?” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland recently asked, referring to liberal democracies. Beyond the famous catchphrase “Canada is back”, the Trudeau government has remained vague on the ways Canada is going to face the crisis of the international liberal order. Following Canada’s current foreign policy priorities, the ongoing diplomatic feud with Saudi Arabia provides an occasion for Canada to reaffirm a strong stance on gender equality and human rights abroad.
Last August, a tweet from Global Affairs Canada condemning the arrest of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia sparked a major crisis in Saudi-Canada relations. The escalating dispute with Saudi Arabia serves as both a cautionary tale for coherence in Canadian foreign policy and an opportunity for human rights advocacy.
One of the stumbling blocks in positioning Canada in the shifting international order is the fact that the government frequently chooses economic interests over human rights. For example, the controversial sale of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia has generated confusion and scepticism regarding the place of human rights in Canadian foreign policy.
Despite the highly political and selective nature of human rights advocacy in Canadian foreign policy, the Trudeau government has not backed down on its concerns about human rights in Saudi Arabia. In fact, the diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia directly affects Global Affairs Canada’s four official priorities:
- strengthening the rules-based international order
- advancing Canada’s feminist foreign policy
- pursuing a progressive trade agenda
- maintaining constructive relations with the United States.
Three factors underpin Canada’s human rights advocacy towards Saudi Arabia. First, it does little harm to Canada’s economic and geopolitical interests. As Thomas Juneau notes, “Canada-Saudi ties have never been important for either country”. Annual two-way trade totals around $3-4 billion, equivalent to about two days’ worth of Canada-US trade.
Second, the human rights narrative with Saudi Arabia is intrinsically linked to Canada’s themes for its G7 presidency, which emphasized advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Finally, with the demise of the US-led liberal order, Canada needs to demonstrate strategic leadership in renewing the multilateral system with progressive values. Considering the Canadian government desire for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2021, it is in Canada’s “national interest” to be seen as a good international citizen.
Nonetheless, “rhetoric-reality gaps” of those so-called Canadian values can also be costly for the reputation of the Canadian government. Even if the Trudeau government wishes to position itself at the forefront of the global effort on gender equality, diversity and inclusive governance, it has not always stood up for human rights abroad.
For instance, human rights and arms control groups have campaigned for an independent review of the sale and use of Canadian armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, which has undermined public confidence in the Trudeau brand. Canada could learn from Sweden’s own Saudi crisis three years ago, leading it to halt arms deals under its feminist foreign policy, along with Spain’s recent decision to do the same amid fears that weapons could be used in Yemen. Furthermore, CBC News recently revealed that Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia had been scaled back, while human rights groups believe that Canada should simply walk away from the deal.
Although Canada’s history of arms sales to human rights violators has been inconsistent, the current dispute with Saudi Arabia offers political opportunities for transnational advocacy networks to pressure both governments to act according to human rights principles. Bearing in mind the silence from most of its allies, Canada has demonstrated leadership in expressing its concern about arrests of women’s rights activists, and in particular regarding the first female activist facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
The current situation also offers Canada the chance to improve its reputation among Canadian and international non-governmental organizations by protecting human rights defenders at risk abroad, especially women. Calling for Germany’s support amid the Saudi dispute, Foreign Minister Freeland recently said in Berlin that Canada would always stand up for human rights “even when we are told to mind our own business… and even when speaking up brings consequences”.
Considering the Trump administration’s unilateralism and disregard for human rights, as well as its close partnership with Saudi Arabia, Canada looks like an “orphan of the liberal international order”. Nonetheless, the Canadian government understands that human rights have been central to the success of the liberal international order and for its future into the 21st century.
As Andrew Thompson warns us, “a world in which international human rights law is marginalized is one that will not be friendly to Canada”. As we are moving into an illiberal world order, the diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia illustrate the importance of being coherent in promoting human rights in a turbulent world.
Marc-André Anzueto is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa.
Image: Alexander Glandien, New York Times