Once sentenced, the Saudi crown prince is Trump’s guest. Canada is warming up, too

For a leader whose old poison with a terrible killing made him a pariah ruler, the crown prince of Arabia arabia, the crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, still has a long way to go.

On Tuesday night, the 40-year-old Crown Prince, you known like MBS, it was taken over by the U.S. President Donald Trump at a dark government dinner at the White House – a day after Trump announced that Saudi Arabia has the most advanced military aircraft, the F-35.

Some commentators dismissed that they liken it to a “return” trip – a reset that could have major consequences for Canada.

“This is a very big country, very important in the region, very important in the world,” said Dennis Horak, who was the Canadian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2015-18.

“Under the current circumstances, with Canada looking to change its economic partnership and looking at different sources of investment, Saudi Arabia is too big to ignore.”

Trump’s role in reviving the crown Prince

It was seven years ago, in October 2018, that Saudi agents were lying there in the Turkish Consulate in Istanbul and used a bone that was found to mutilate the body of the Washington Post Columnist and MBS Jamal Khashoggi died after being framed, investigators found.

The Saudi government called Khasheggi called it a “powerful operation,” but US intelligence agencies believe the strike would not have happened without MBS’s approval.

Trump, however, has shown that he believes otherwise.

When faced with a nasty question from a reporter about the assassination of Khashoggi at the Oval Office press conference on Tuesday, with MBS sitting next to him, Trump instead lashed out.

“A lot of people didn’t like that man you’re talking about. Whether you like him or not, things happen. But him [MBS] I didn’t know anything about it. “

While most Western countries put as much distance as they could between themselves and the unexpected crown prince, Canada’s relationship is trickier than most.

Two months earlier, the ladder on human rights, distorted by calls from Canada to release activists imprisoned in Saudi, rose to the rild of full beatings. It led to Horat’s dismissal as ambassador to Riyadh and the effective termination of diplomatic ties for the next five years.

When President Joe Babiden took the first step towards a crown prince test with FIST-bumpling mbs in 2022, it was Trump who put the process on the fast track.

In his second term, the US President made the highlight of his first trip in May with a visit to Riyadh, and analysts said that MBS’s trip to Washington completed the country’s global overhaul – at least in Trump’s eyes.

Canada lifting ties

“Saudi Arabia is actually the center of gravity in Donald Trump’s showdown in the Middle East,” said Aaron Ettinger, a foreign relations expert at the Carleton Union in Ottawa.

He said Saudi Arabia has influence in Israel’s war – and a rival.

“We can also go on to say that Donald Trump is trying to draw Arab states away from China’s influence across the Middle East. So we have three games being played with every aspect of Trump’s renewed involvement with Saudi Arabia. “

Canada has also moved quickly to boost economic and trade relations with Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, International Trade Minister Mandunder Sidhu welcomed a high-level Saudi delegation to Ottawa, including the Minister of Investments, which led to the evolution of new economic and business agreements.

In the book of analysis Published last week, RBC suggested a visit by Prime Minister Mark Carney to Saudi Arabia could happen sometime in 2026.

“Both countries have a lot of capital to move and a lot of capital they need,” said the Bulletin, indicating important areas for trade and investment, as well as manufacturing vehicles, including satellites.

“Canadian manufacturers and producers, especially in the agri-food sector, can be the leading players in Saudi Arabia’s acceptance of becoming a food hub for the Middle East and North Africa,” said Rbc.

Canada’s biggest export to Saudi Arabia, expected to hit $1.1 billion CDN by 2023, is armored vehicles, the bulk of which are armored lav vehicles produced at General Dynamics Land Systems-Ont.

Saudi Arabia’s free exports to Canada remain in Canada for oil – about $1.5 billion worth of CDNs by 2023, most of which was refined at the main oil center in Santa John.

Going Beyond Human Rights Matters

“The relationship is actually done backwards,” said Horak, a retired proplogat, emphasizing that the liberal Carney government seems to have decided that concerns about human rights will no longer define the relationship.

“We’re not going to sit there and have the school complex point our finger and shake our heads,” he said.

“There are countries that have challenges for him, but that doesn’t mean you don’t talk to them. Involvement gives you access, and access gives you the opportunity to influence.”

Under what the Kingdom referred to as vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has moved its power and wealth to diversify its economy away from small oil production.

One of the most amazing results has been realized for women, who face a severe limitation in Saudi society.

Women now make up one-third of the workforce, and their ownership of small businesses is rising. Restrictions on everything from driving to segregated houses to restaurants are now a thing of the past.

Football teams, golf part of rebranding

However, human rights groups Point out that while social freedom has increased in the Kingdom, political freedom has not. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world, and even a serious press release can lead to death sentences.

In Canada, the New Democratic Party has aligned itself with Nalivels Enterbels to continue selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, given its questionable human rights record.

On the eve of Eve’s Washington visit, human rights groups urged the Trump administration to prioritize human rights in all its dealings with the country.

“The prince of Saudi Arabia is trying to reinvent himself as a global empire, but the reality at home is being suppressed by many, USERO OFFICIALS,” said Sarah Yager, Director of Human Rights Tourism.

But as MBS’s visit began, Michael Ratney, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, challenged that approach. He told an event sponsored by the Carnegie Endlemement for International Peace that the Peace of Countries Encourages Criticism Rather Than Criticism May Succeed Saudi Rulers.

“It doesn’t work to single out Saudi Arabia as hopelessly bad and then we’re going to deal with other countries.” Ratney said.

Carleton University’s Ettinger said MBS succeeded in moving the Khashoggi case because he repeatedly referred to Saudi Arabia as a “normal country.”

“Saudi Arabia goes all over the world, buys soccer teams and golf tournaments and all kinds of things that make it look interesting, exciting, and not a strong, rich ’20th century’ type of state,” he said.

“And that’s exciting for investors around the world.”