Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand at the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Cernay-la-Ville near Paris, France, on March 27.Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand wrapped up a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia this week where she talked trade and how Canada might be able to help clear vital shipping channels such as the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a ceasefire.
She met with four Saudi ministers including her counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Once there is a ceasefire, Canada will be able to participate in the work that lies ahead to maintain stability regionally, to ensure that the global economic shocks are able to be addressed, certainly in terms of the stability of waterways,” Ms. Anand said in an interview.
Upward of 30 countries have added their names to a March 19 statement expressing support for a potential coalition to reopen the strait. Some added the caveat that this assistance would come only after a ceasefire.
Ms. Anand said no decision has been made to commit Canadian Armed Forces assets.
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Defence Minister David McGuinty said Canada is still looking at how the country could contribute in peacetime to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for energy trade. “There are options on the table, vessels, de-mining expertise, intelligence, cyber capacities,” Mr. McGuinty said in an e-mailed statement.
The Foreign Affairs Minister’s visit Sunday and Monday included meetings with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim, Saudi Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, as well as with Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi.
Ms. Anand said she has been invited to join an in-person meeting of foreign ministers on the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In a joint statement with her Saudi counterpart, Ms. Anand said the two countries have made progress in negotiations on a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement. Such a deal could stimulate two-way trade by enshrining legal protections for Canadian investors in Saudi Arabia as well as Saudi investors in Canada.
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She arrived in the kingdom just days after retaliatory missile strikes on Saudi Arabia from Iran.
Ms. Anand and Prince Faisal “condemned the destabilizing Iranian behavior in the region, including the Iranian attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, which threaten regional and international security.” They called on Iran “to immediately cease its attacks and to respect international law, international humanitarian law, and the principles of good neighborliness,” as well as ”to stop supporting, financing, and arming its affiliated militias in Arab states."
The minister said she talked to the Saudis about expanding Canadian services and goods exports to the kingdom, including in defence, energy and artificial intelligence, as well as international students attending universities and colleges in Canada.
Canada and Saudi Arabia suffered a major diplomatic rift for nearly five years starting in 2018 when Riyadh expelled Canada’s ambassador after the Department of Global Affairs and Chrystia Freeland, who was then minister of foreign affairs, publicly called for the immediate release of several imprisoned political activists in the kingdom. Riyadh also recalled its envoy, decrying what it said was “blatant interference” in its internal affairs, and it froze new trade and investment with Canada.