Canada signs major trade, defence agreements with U.A.E.

A first on Parliament Hill. The Prime Minister welcoming the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to Canada, but not all MPs think they should be deepening ties. Because of their human rights record, first and foremost. I mean, there should be some standards. There should be a bar. The Crown Prince rules the wealthiest of the seven United Arab Emirates. He agreed to cooperate on defence, including joint military exercises and training, and they signed a new economic agreement. A comprehensive economic partnership has been negotiated in 47 days, a record. Today, Prime Minister, we take it further as strategic partners. Yes. Thank you so much. This comes a year after Carney's controversial visit to the UAE to search for new financial backers outside of the U.S. The UAE pledged to invest $70 billion in Canada. They see Canada offering stability, opportunity and trust. Though the money's not flowing yet, the UAE has signaled where it would go. Mining, logistics, energy, digital technology. And so a lot of this is commercially sensitive, but we're waiting. We want to be respectful for that process, but they are actively looking at deploying that. Some call the investment big. They would go a long way to meeting some of the federal government's targets for investment over the next five, ten years. I feel outraged, actually. A progressive think tank says Canada shouldn't take money from a country widely accused of supporting a militia that's committed atrocities in Sudan. This agreement, I think, basically apologizes for that. Just kind of tries to ignore that all of that is happening and kind of rewards the UAE. The trade minister says the government will still raise human rights issues. Well, I would say human rights never take a backseat with Canada. It's unclear when exactly the UAE will start investing, but one project is known. Developing Manitoba's Port of Churchill to try and expand Canadian exports from there. Ashley Burke, CBC News, Ottawa.