Prime Minister Mark Carney defended his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the importance of expanding trade and investment ties despite longstanding diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Carney’s trip marked the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to the kingdom in 26 years. During his visit on Thursday, he met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, where they established the Canada-Saudi Arabia Co-ordination Council to enhance cooperation in sectors including defense and trade.
Carney underlined his broader strategy of reducing Canada’s economic reliance on the United States by seeking new international partners. While acknowledging differences on human rights and other issues, he maintained that engagement with foreign governments does not equate to endorsement. “Engagement is not endorsement, so engaging with the country doesn’t mean that we agree with everything that a country is doing,” Carney told reporters in Jeddah. He further criticized what he described as ineffective approaches such as “lecturing countries from afar.”
In line with these efforts, Canada announced plans to reinstate the position of defense attaché at its embassy in Riyadh. Additionally, officials said they expected to sign a bilateral foreign investment protection and promotion agreement with Saudi Arabia by the end of 2027. This treaty aims to provide legal protections and clarity for investors from both countries, encouraging capital flows and economic cooperation.
Carney also revealed that representatives from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Pension Investment Fund, would attend the inaugural Canada Investment Summit scheduled for September in Toronto. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will lead a delegation of Canadian pension funds to Saudi Arabia in the coming months to explore investment opportunities.
The move represents a significant shift from the previous Canadian government’s approach. Relations between Canada and Saudi Arabia deteriorated sharply in 2018 after the Canadian government publicly called for the release of political activists imprisoned in the kingdom. In response, Saudi Arabia expelled Canada’s ambassador and froze new trade deals, sparking a major diplomatic rift.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who served from 1996 to 2000, expressed unease with Carney’s approach, describing it as “transactional” and a departure from a longstanding Liberal legacy of emphasizing human rights in foreign policy. “He keeps wanting to say he’s erasing the Trudeau legacy. Well, it’s not just Justin Trudeau’s legacy, he’s erasing a legacy that goes back a lot of years for a lot of Liberals,” Axworthy said, noting his personal discomfort with the shift.
As Canada moves to deepen economic engagement with Saudi Arabia, it faces the ongoing challenge of balancing trade interests with concerns over the kingdom’s human rights record.