Ottawa is set to host a large Saudi cultural delegation this month, an initiative that critics contend is a direct attempt to rehabilitate the Kingdom’s international image amid a controversial $15 billion arms deal with Canada. Approximately 100 dancers, singers, and other performers are scheduled to arrive in the Canadian capital from May 18-21 for a four-day series of events. These events are officially intended to showcase Saudi Arabia’s cultural traditions.
Cultural Diplomacy Amidst Arms Deals
The Saudi Cultural Days event is an annual occurrence, previously held in Indonesia this year and at UNESCO headquarters in Paris 14 years ago. However, its return to Canada marks a significant interval, as the event has not been hosted in the country for 35 years, according to a report in The Hill Times. This timing coincides with growing public opposition in Canada to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
Cesar Jaramillo, head of the anti-war group Project Ploughshares, stated that while efforts to foster intercultural understanding are not inherently problematic, “the timing of this particular initiative is highly suspect.” Jaramillo further noted, “There's has been no Saudi cultural delegation in Canada for over a quarter century, and this one happens to visit in the midst of Canada’s highly controversial multi-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.”
Canada's Economic Priorities
The $15 billion arms deal, which involves the shipment of light-armoured vehicles to Riyadh, has placed Ottawa on the defensive. It was revealed that Canada’s foreign affairs minister personally signed off on the export permits for these weapons. The Canadian government has defended its position by stating it could not renege on the deal, initially brokered under the previous Conservative government, without damaging its international reputation. Ottawa also argued that if Canada did not sell the weapons, another country with less stringent safeguards would.
Further underscoring Canada’s economic engagement with the Kingdom, a 70-person Canadian delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia on a trade mission two months ago. This group included representatives from the health, education, agriculture, defence, and mining and manufacturing industries. Ed Holder, a former Conservative MP who led the delegation, asserted that “If you want to be in [a] position to have a positive impact on any country . . . the best way to do that is through trade,” adding, “It’s not going to be my place to tell the Saudis how to run their country.” This position prioritizes trade relations over direct engagement on human rights issues.
Whitewashing Human Rights Abuses
The case of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose wife and three children have sought refuge in Quebec, continues to raise questions regarding Canada’s efforts to pressure Saudi Arabia on its human rights record. The Saudi embassy in Ottawa did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the cultural delegation. However, Shaza Fahim, an official at the embassy, informed The Hill Times that the cultural event is intended to “highlight the friendship between Saudi Arabia and Canada.” A statement emailed to the newspaper by the embassy claimed that the Saudi Cultural Days are planned three years in advance and that the Ottawa events have “nothing to do with the sale of armoured vehicles.”
Three months ago, the Saudi embassy publicly decried Canadian media coverage of the weapons deal, labeling it as “sensationalised and politicised” and asserting that it did not accept outside interference into its internal affairs. Jaramillo of Project Ploughshares concluded, “It takes little cynicism to see this as a blatant attempt to soften Canadian views on Saudi Arabia in the context of the arms deal,” and emphasized, “However, the Saudi human rights record is so abysmal that it cannot be whitewashed with dancers and cuisine.”