Trudeau tells London, Ont. mayor the General Dynamic file is top priority

The Prime Minister is reassuring Ed Holder, London's mayor and leader of the city building light armoured vehicles, that resolving financial troubles with Saudi Arabia and preserving local jobs at General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is a top priority. 

Justin Trudeau invited Holder to a private meeting Monday in Ottawa, alongside London-area Liberal MPs Kate Young and Peter Fragiskatos. 

Holder said the focus of the meeting was on the $15-billion arms deal between Canada and Saudi Arabia, a contract filled by the London-based defense contractor GDLS. 

"I came with a sense of optimism and he certainly realized that what we're talking about is preserving somewhere in the range of 4,000 jobs," Holder told CBC.

 "This issue is top of mind for his government."

• Saudi Arabia is $1.8B in arrears to Canada in arms deal
• General Dynamics warns Canada: Cancelling Saudi deal would cost billions

The contract to provide Saudi Arabia with armoured vehicles, equipment, and training over 14 years is controversial with political opponents citing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Kingdom's involvement in the war in Yemen.

Late last year, it was revealed that GDLS was owed $1.8-billion in overdue payments from Saudi Arabia, impacting the local company's ability to pay dozens of suppliers. 

There has been talk of scrapping the deal. In an interview in Dec. 2018, the Prime Minister said for the first time that he was looking for a way out of the deal.

Holder experienced with Kingdom 

Holder said that late payments and concerns around human rights continue to be issue. 

"The federal government is working with Saudi Arabia to resolve two issues: significantly delayed payments by the Saudi government, which are causing General Dynamics payment difficulties with its suppliers, and human rights concerns," said Holder in a statement.

Holder has experience dealing with the Kingdom, having travelled there as the first chairperson of the Canada-Saudi Business Council. He was also a Conservative MP in Stephen Harper's government when the contract was signed in 2014.

"I know sometimes it's a challenging country to do business with but like any country it's important to understand how they do their business," he said. "These [issues] are some of the realities that we deal with."

Holder was in Ottawa Monday attending a meeting of Canada's Big City Mayors.