Canada PM vows tougher controls after stumble over Saudi arms deal

By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, April 14 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, on the defensive over his government's handling of a
controversial arms deal with Saudi Arabia, on Thursday said
Ottawa would more closely probe future contracts to export
weapons.
The affair marks the first notable misstep since the
Liberals swept to power last November, promising a new era of
openness and transparency.
One opposition party took the unusual step of saying the
Liberals had lied about the $13 billion contract with General
Dynamics Corp GD.N , which was signed in 2014 under the former
Conservative government.
The Liberals stressed they had no choice but to honor what
they said was a binding contract for light armored vehicles,
despite concerns about the Saudis' human rights record.
But in response to a lawsuit by critics of the deal, Ottawa
on Tuesday released documents showing Foreign Minister Stephane
Dion had only last week signed the most important expert
permits, which indicated Trudeau had a chance to veto the deal,
but elected not to do so.
Trudeau told a news conference that the world needed to know
that when Canada signed a deal, it would be respected even when
the government changed.
But he also said that Ottawa would in future be open and
transparent so "Canadians will be reassured on any new contract
signed that we are doing a better job than perhaps the previous
government did on respecting our principles, our values and
indeed our laws."
Trudeau did not give details.
Ipsos Public Affairs pollster Darrell Bricker said the
affair was "a little elite in its orientation," and therefore
unlikely to cut into Trudeau's current high levels of
popularity.
Former Conservative minister Tony Clement, in cabinet when
the 2014 deal was signed, said the Liberals were not being
honest and looked as though they had something to hide.
"It's the ultimate hypocrisy to promise more openness,
promise more transparency than the previous government ... and
the way we find out about the deal going through and the export
permits being signed is through court documentation," he said by
telephone.
Thomas Mulcair, leader of the opposition New Democrats, on
Wednesday told reporters "the government lied to Canadians about
who signed what when in the Saudi arms deal, and that is a very
serious matter."
Canadian politicians rarely accuse each other of lying
outside the House of Commons, where speech is protected.