Saudi Arabia Says More Measures Coming as Trudeau Defends Stance
- Kingdom begins to sell Canadian assets in diplomatic dispute
- Canada will ‘speak strongly’ on human rights, PM Trudeau says
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Saudi Arabia said it will continue to ratchet up pressure on Canada for criticizing the recent arrests of women activists, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upheld his stance on human rights.
The kingdom’s foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, said Wednesday the next wave of retaliatory steps could affect investment flows between the countries. Saudi Arabia’s central bank and pension funds have already begun selling Canadian assets, according to people familiar with the matter. A report on the asset sales in the Financial Times earlier Wednesday triggered a brief sell-off in the loonie. Canadian stocks and bonds were little changed.