Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with London MPs Peter Fragiskatos, Kate Young, and Fanshawe College President Peter Devlin. Photo Credit: Nick Reyno, FSU Interrobang
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a visit to the centre for applied transportation technology at Fanshawe College to talk about making post secondary education more affordable for low income individuals, as well as making student loan repayment more feasible.
Local MPs Kate Young and Peter Fragiskatos were present when Trudeau gave his speech, and spoke as well, thanking the Prime Minister for the work he is doing, as well as thanking Fanshawe College President Peter Devlin for his service to the country during his time in the Canadian Forces. Once the question period began it wasn’t long before the issue of General Dynamics and the Canadian government selling armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia came up. Foreign affairs minister Stephan Dion has said that there is no evidence that the equipment being sold will be used against Saudi citizens, and people are wondering whether this is a line that will be drawn with other countries in regards to national defence contracts.
“This issue is a matter of principle. The principle in play here is that Canada’s word needs to mean something in the international community. As I have said every single time I’ve ever been asked about this contract, this contract was signed in February of 2014, and we will be respecting that contract.”
He went on to say that it’s important for people to know that when a commercial agreement is signed with Canada it won’t be ripped up upon a change in government, and he wants to reassure Canadians that the new government will do a better job than the previous one at respecting the country’s values and laws when signing new contracts. He added that with the local job creation in London set aside, Canada still needs to uphold the principle of not going back on contracts.