When it comes to two Ontario colleges operating male-only campuses in Saudi Arabia, Premier Kathleen Wynne is outraged.
She called it "unacceptable" and has dispatched her officials to figure out how the publicly funded colleges – Algonquin College and Niagara College – were able to get away with running school programs that exclude women. She wants to ensure it doesn't happen in the future.
When it comes to the Liberal government in Ottawa signing a $15-billion military arms deal with Saudi Arabia, however, Ms. Wynne has nothing to say.
"I am not going to second-guess decisions that the federal government may make in terms of those deals," Ms. Wynne said this week, when asked about the other Saudi contract during a press conference. "They need to assess the situation and make those decisions."
Much is at stake with this contract, including about 3,000 jobs for nearly 15 years in London, Ont., which is going through economic hard times as a result of a big factory closures and job losses. The vehicles are being built by General Dynamics Land Systems, which is a subsidiary of a major U.S. defence contractor.
(The Saudi arms deal: A primer on what we've learned so far)
The Ontario government has provided no financial support to GDLS-Canada, which began as part of GM Canada's Diesel Division and has been operating since 1962, according to a spokesman for Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid.
"Again, I am not going to weigh in," when she was asked if her reluctance to "second-guess" Justin Trudeau's government was related to the fact that so many jobs were at stake in a vulnerable region of her province.
"I am not sitting at that table. I am not making those decisions. That's for the federal government to decide," she said. "I know what our decision is in terms of the colleges, but, you know, that is not the same table where those international decisions are being made."
But human rights are human rights – and so Ms. Wynne's comments illustrate the delicate balance that all politicians attempt to walk between attracting new commerce and doing that commerce with countries with poor human rights records.
The two Ontario colleges will, according to reports, earn about $4-million each over the five-year term. In addition, Ontario taxpayers spend $1.44-billion to fund the province's 24 community colleges.
In the early days of Jean Chretien's government, the former prime minister was criticized for doing trade deals with China, and ignoring that country's human rights abuses as he made deals, leading Team Canada trade missions.
Later in his tenure, Mr. Chretien delivered strong speeches in China, deploring the country's treatment of pro-democracy forces and religious groups. But by then he had established a working relationship with Chinese officials.
Stephen Harper learned the hard way, however, when he took office. After having criticized the Chretien government's relationship with China – one that suggested the Liberals were selling out Canadian values in pursuit of the "almighty dollar" – he found his government frozen out by China.
As The Globe and Mail's Mark MacKinnon has noted, "Within three years of that 'almighty dollar' comment, Mr. Harper reversed course in his China policy, under pressure from Canadian businesses who claimed the Conservative government's principles were costing them contracts."
Now, the Trudeau government is being attacked by human rights advocates for the military contract with Saudi Arabia, after the country recently executed 47 people, including a Shia Muslim cleric who spoke out against the ruling al-Saud family. It discriminates against Shia Muslims, and has been strongly criticized for its military campaign against Yemen.
The Globe and Mail's Steven Chase has written extensively about this issue, and recently wrote that the Liberal government, conscious of the controversy around this arms contract, says it "reserves the right to suspend or cancel exports" if "events warrant." This is a shift in its messaging after weeks of saying the contract was a "done deal."
As for the Ontario colleges operating in Saudi Arabia, and adhering to the country's rules that discriminate against women, Ms. Wynne says that she thought Algonquin College was going to be offering programs for women.
Her hope now is that "whenever there is an international presence for an Ontario college or university that there are programs offered equitably to men and women."