The federal Official Opposition Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development says Twitter is not the place for diplomacy.
Erin O’Toole, who’s also the MP for the Durham region, was in town Thursday to attend the Stratford Festival with his daughter and he took time out to talk with My Stratford Now about Canada’s relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of concerns tweeted out by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland over the arrests of social activists in the country.
Saudi Arabia later went on to expel Canada’s ambassador from the country and it has recalled thousands of students who were studying here.
O’Toole says Freeland should not have turned to social media to voice her concerns.
“On Twitter you can’t see nuance, you can’t see the reaction of the other side, so for diplomacy, particularly complex relationships, Twitter should be just one of the methods for information but not for expressing the views.”
O’Toole adds he does feel Saudi Arabia overreacted and he is encouraged that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he is going to get directly involved in the talks between the two countries.
