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It appears that John Manley, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada and the Liberal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2002, is channeling both Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau.

Manley has written an opinion piece for iPolitics in which he argues there is nothing wrong with the deal which will see Canada sell Saudi Arabia billions of dollars worth of light armoured vehicles.

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One of the main reasons, he points out, is that the light armoured vehicles the Saudis will receive from General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada, are not the type of “equipment that can be used in torture or persecution of women. We are selling military vehicles — basically fancy trucks.”

General Dynamics Land Systems- Canada is not providing specific details about the breakdown of the LAV order, which has financial backing of the government of Canada. But defence industry sources say Saudi Arabia will acquire different versions of the upgraded LAV-III, outfitted with a variety of weapon systems. One of the subcontracts already made public for the Saudi deal is for a 105mm gun system.