It's simple Jaeger...on what princple is government and business founded? MONEY No matter whoswe as long as it comes in. One of the small but nasty sides of a free market.

There may well come a time when the keeper of the keys may have to use the skeleton key.

If so, there will be a need to keep our alert level high.

It is a double edged sword. = TG

There is prob a lot of firms doing business that do not fit with what Canadians view as ethical.

More of this should be exposed, maybe it would make a difference.

Maybe not though.

Off topic a bit....... this is an example of why some believe in a new world order or some other conspiracy, only to funnel their money to global warming carbon credits.

This is a classic example that our government does not have the guts to enact a law that prohibits doing business with countries such as Saudi Arabia. Anybody who thinks that the Saudi's are our friends dream in technicolor. This vile country is filled with hateful Islamofacists who want nothing more than to wipe out not only Israel but all countries that are "infidels". We should never forget that (I admit that I don't recall the exact number - maybe other out there do)MOST - if not all, of the terrorists that flew the planes into the tall buildings were SAUDI!!!!!!

There is no way and no REASON for Canadian to do business with countries like Saudi Arabia, Siria, Iran and many more. When are we going to show some moral courage and tell them "IT IS OVER"!

Can anyone explain to me exactly why we need to do business with these bandits in the first place? The laws they have are so repressive toward women and offensive to all the rights and privileges we hold dear. It is time to tell them that it is game over - go home.

No issue. Its not like they are designing the swords that get used for executions.

Good for them. Better them than a company out of Korea or China.

From a political point fo view....always a good thing to have "your" companies selling security, telecomm and fiancial software and switches.

Always a good thing.

Agree with Stephen. If these guys dont sell it, someone else will. Banning them from doing this is going to do more damage to the Canadian economy than it is good. Its like that Sudan oil thing -we pulled a Canadian company out and it was bought over pretty damn quickly thereafter.

If you re serious about moral guts and boycotting, well, you have to remember that sanctions/bans/boycotts dont work unless they are supported by everyone in the field. The moment they can be broken, they lose effect.

In any case, Saudi Arabia enjoys some kind of priviliged position in the eyes of western government leaderships. Remember how little was done when that Sampson guy was thrown into jail?

Which reminds me - does anyone know the name of the Canadian council in Riyadh during the whole Sampson affair?

He was some Arab guy who apparently was more keen on building a rapport with the Arabs than getting Sampson out of there. The other officials werent up to the task either.

I think he quite deserve a blogburst - it would be great if we could find out if he is still plying his wares in the Foreign Service. Cant remember his name - its in Sampson's book. Burn the b13tard.

Sput - you are putting a price on what it takes to sell out on your principles. It kind of reminds me of the gal who wouldn't have sex with a guy for $100. He upped the anty to $500 - still "no". He then went to $1000 - still "no". At $10,000 she agreed. To this the guy said "now we know what you are. The only thing left to determine is what the real price is"

THere's no limit to American, Canadian and Eurpean countries happy to be money whores to get business from Saudi, China and other assorted evil dictatorships.

Hell, Saddam even bought the foreign policies of France and Germany.

Remember the song "Money" from the musical movie "Cabaret"?

"Money makes the world go 'round,
A Mark, a Yen, a Buck or a Pound,
Is all that makes the world go 'round,
That clinking, clanking sound..."

depends on what you are selling. Sounds like some people here think we should do a general boycott of Saudi Arabia...should we add Pakistan, China, Russia etc.

I think it depends on what you are selling people. Once again if you are worried about selling things to "enemies" then selling them security software, telecomm and finacial software is a good thing. There is almost always a back door.

Just like having RIM's sold round the world. Guess where all messages flow through. If you want to see what people are saying go to RIM.

The fact that First Data owned Western Union allowed the US to get peeks into lots of money transfers going round the world. Not for court but for intelligence.

Thats the real politik argument.

The free enterprise argument is to let them sell because of a belief in free trade. Trade sacntions are just another form of regulation. Unless you can demonstrate the benefit to the society of the seller then there is no need for the regulation.

The moral argument is the most problematic. What you need to define is why you arent selling that particular good or service. How does it fit with your overall trade policy and positioning as a country, are you morally consistent.

So if not security software, what else will we not sell them or buy from them. Will we stop buying oil that originated from them, should we not deal with those who do?

What happpened to Smapson was criminal, the fact that the Canadian government didnt even do the minimum from a diplomatic point of view is a real problem...so I have a hard time taking the lectures from Liberals on torture and detainees.

The Saudi regime is a problem, how you move it toward something better is the challenge, at least one that isnt surruptiously funding expansion of incompatible value systems, wahabism.

I think this is misplaced target. Sounds more like the arguments we get out of the left about why we shouldnt deal with a particular state of their disliking.

But most importantly Entrust is a private entity. It would be different if they were government owned....ownership matters.

a differnt bob,

"you are putting a price on what it takes to sell out on your principles."

Its that old debate about business and ethics - businesses are primarily answerable to the stakeholders of the company, not the general population. They have a function, and that is to make money.

Dont get me wrong, I agree with you completely. And I concsiously avoid buying goods that are made in China. But the reality is that the worlds most powerful democracy is made up of people who are happy to save a dollar or two at China-supplied stores such as Walmart, even if that means funding a country that is the epitome of anti-democracy.

Its the way the business world works. Throw in morality, and you are going to lose out. I see nothing wrong with a company doing what is ostensibly within the rules of the global economics game.

Which is it going to be? Principle? Or Profit?