Canada 'will always stand up for human rights,' FM says amid Saudi row

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland today defended her country's call for the release of activists jailed in Saudi Arabia, giving no ground after Riyadh expelled Ottawa's ambassador.

"Let me be very clear with everyone here and with the Canadians who may be watching and listening: Canada will always stand up for human rights, in Canada and around the world, and women's rights are human rights," she told an audience in Vancouver.