After clocking in two days on the NATO summit circuit in Ankara, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to kick off what his office notes will be the first visit to Saudi Arabia by a sitting prime minister in 26 years by joining Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for an afternoon tête-à-tête — and, later, a “signing ceremony” — at the Royal Palace in Jeddah.

He’s also booked in for a separate “signing ceremony” at the Saudi Arabia-Canada Investment Forum later today, where he’ll also make himself available to reporters on his efforts to boost trade and investment with what Canadian Press notes is a “strategically important country whose notorious human rights record is only getting worse.”

In an interview with the wire service, University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau described the trip as “very significant,” and added that it shows there is a “willingness to deepen relations with Canada, but we are not high on their priority list,” he noted.

“Carney’s visit follows a gradual thaw in bilateral relations after what Juneau called ‘a fairly major diplomatic dispute’ in 2018. The Trudeau government had criticized the kingdom’s justice system and its treatment of women, calling on Saudi Arabia to “immediately release” human-rights activists. Riyadh instead withdrew its ambassador from Ottawa and expelled Canada’s envoy. Saudi Arabia halted trade talks with Canada, before restoring ambassadors in 2023.”

In the advisory announcing the trip last month, Carney’s office noted that he hopes to “deepen the Canada-Saudi Arabia partnership across energy, critical minerals, defence, infrastructure, and investment,” including “expanding trade, promoting two-way investment, and advancing cooperation in priority sectors, including mining, artificial intelligence, cleantech, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, and life sciences.”

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly heads to Sudbury to highlight a new initiative related to both “critical minerals” and “digital technologies,” which, according to the notice, also involves the Digital Technology Cluster, which was launched in 2018 with the mandate to “accelerate the development and adoption of digital technologies that help Canadians stay healthy, address climate change, drive economic productivity and build digital skills.” (1 p.m.)

Also on the radar: Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski teams up with Liberal caucus colleagues Ginette Lavack and Corey Hogan — who, in addition to representing ridings in Winnipeg and Calgary, currently serve as parliamentary secretaries to Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, respectively — to outline the latest forecast for the current wildfire season. (12:15 p.m.)

Later this afternoon, Secretary of State (Rural Development) Buckley Belanger will stop by the La Loche Fire Hall to announce — on Olszewski’s behalf — a fresh tranche of federal support for “inclusive search and rescue volunteer recruitment and strengthened water and shoreline response” throughout his home province of Saskatchewan. (1 p.m. CST)

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

Conservative MP Dean Allison hits the West Block press theatre to reveal “further details” on his previously announced plan to hear from “COVID-19 vaccine injured Canadians” as part of what he has dubbed the “Allison Inquiry,” which will include four days of “live” testimony on Parliament Hill this fall, with the advisory noting that “Members of Parliament who have themselves been injured by the COVID-19 vaccines are also encouraged to be witnesses.” (10 a.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Both the House of Commons and the Senate have shut down for the summer, with regular parliamentary proceedings set to resume in September.

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Committee highlights courtesy of our friends at iPoliticsINTEL.