Federal finance officials were concerned last summer by the threat of a diplomatic and trade crisis with Saudi Arabia exploding to draw in other countries in the region — potentially putting billions of dollars in direct investment in danger — newly-released documents reveal.
A briefing note prepared for Finance Minister Bill Morneau laid out the possible economic consequences of the abrupt Aug. 5 suspension of new trade and investment in Canada by the desert kingdom — triggered by a tweet from Canada's foreign affairs department that expressed "grave concern" about the Saudi state's arrest of human rights advocates.
In the end, all the Saudis got from their closest allies were statements of support for its stance on Canada. Juneau said he doesn't believe those countries have been blind to the provocative actions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Crown prince has been widely condemned for his prosecution of a bloody war against Houthi rebels in Yemen which has killed thousands of civilians and triggered a humanitarian crisis, and his role in the grisly assassination of regime critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident. On the flip side, Canada's allies — notably the Americans — were slow to back the Trudeau government last summer as the disagreement escalated.
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