But it’s also been a year since the federal government announced it had helped broker a deal to sell Saudi Arabia $15 billion in armoured vehicles – the biggest arms deal Canada has ever made.
At the time, the Harper government boasted of the 3,000 jobs it would support in southern Ontario over the next 14 years.
The Trudeau government, for its part, has pointed to contractual obligations. It will broker deals differently next time, but cancelling this one could hurt its reputation, it says.
Meanwhile, both Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau have been all but silent in their criticism of the kingdom.