DOMINANT ANGLE
Ottawa is reopening its own debate on arms sales to Riyadh, in light of British support and the US withdrawal in the face of the Houthis.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the Royal Air Force's Voyager tanker aircraft would refuel Saudi planes in mid-air, described as limited-time support (CBC).
- 02
According to the New York Times, cited by the Globe and Mail, Donald Trump reportedly called off American strikes against the Houthis at the last minute, even as bombs were already loaded onto the planes.
- 03
A contract for light armoured vehicles (LAVs) was signed with Saudi Arabia in 2014, which has since been contested by lawsuits and activist campaigns (National Post).
ANALYSIS
Ottawa, Tuesday, September 22, 2026. As London has agreed to provide in-flight refueling to Saudi combat aircraft engaged against the Houthis, the Canadian press is reopening a debate that is over a decade old: that of Canadian arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In a National Post editorial, columnist Jesse Kline argues that it is "now clear that we should have been selling the Saudis more military equipment, not less", recalling the controversial contract for light armored vehicles (LAV) signed by the Conservatives in 2014 and fought by militant campaigns and judicial appeals since. He defends the idea that the Saudi coalition was seeking to prevent an Islamist organization from taking control of a country located near a strategic passage point of the Red Sea, while acknowledging the reasons for mistrust of Riyadh, from the Saudi origin of fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The Globe and Mail documents the void left by Washington. The newspaper reports that President Donald Trump would have canceled at the last minute American strikes against the Houthis, even as bombs were already loaded onto planes, according to the New York Times, information that Reuters was unable to verify and that the Pentagon did not comment on. The United States has so far rebuffed the repeated calls of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to join the fighting, while the Houthis are advancing on the heights of Yemen to cut off the Red Sea coast from areas held by pro-government forces.
It is in this context that CBC relays the announcement of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham: the Royal Air Force's Voyagers will refuel Saudi aircraft, support that he says he wants to limit in time and intended to secure British and regional interests, as the Houthis now control the port of Mokha and part of the access to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which around 12% of global trade passes.
For the Canadian press, the British episode acts as a mirror: it raises the question of whether Ottawa, burned by its own controversies over the LAV, should reconsider its reluctance to engage more with Riyadh.
