One of the numerous concerns that received relatively little attention in the closing days of the campaign, as voters focused on which of the opposition parties was best positioned to oust the Tories, was the matter of Canada’s $15 billion deal to sell light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

Justin Trudeau attempted to slip by the issue in a late-campaign interview in which he dismissed the vehicles as “Jeeps,” which they are decidedly not. He also suggested it was not Ottawa’s place to interfere in a private agreement between a Canadian manufacturer and a foreign government. Both responses displayed his much-improved skill in evading questions, even if they undermined his insistence that a Liberal government would be more open and honest about such things. While the contract went to general Dynamics Land Systems in London, Ont., it did so through the guiding hand of Ottawa and was announced by Conservative Trade Minister Ed Fast.

The message, in any case, was that the Liberals were no more inclined to put their rhetoric about human rights and Canadian values ahead of a contract that might involve a lot of jobs and not a few votes.

Now that Trudeau is prime minister-elect, the question may not be so glibly shrugged off. Stephen Harper was subject to pointed questions and harsh criticism over the deal. There’s no reason the Liberals, simply by dint of having been elected, should consider the matter closed, especially given the frequency and volume of their pledges to pursue a new, more honourable role for Canada in the world.

All the elements that drew criticism of the deal remain in place. According to Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares, it is the biggest arms export contract in Canadian history, it was brokered by the Canadian Commercial Corporation – a Crown corporation – and it violated a requirement that all such contracts be subject to a human rights assessment to ensure there is no “reasonable risk” they might be used against civilians. Many details are being kept secret on the basis of commercial confidentiality.

MCpl Dan Pop / Canadian Army Public AffairsA light armoured vehicle from General Dynamics Land Systems Canada in London, Ontario in 2013.

The Liberals haven’t taken office yet, of course, but Trudeau’s comments indicate they’ll let the deal go ahead, even though Saudi Arabia is even now engaged in a crackdown on dissent against its abuses. On Thursday, Abdel-Karim al-Khadar, a professor of Islamic studies, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and barred from travelling abroad for a further decade on charges of disobeying the ruler, founding a human rights organization and supporting protests, violating Internet laws and accusing Saudi authorities of rights abuses.

Khadar was known as a vocal critic of religious extremism and militancy, and a prominent advocate of women’s rights. He was sentenced Monday by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court, which lumps terrorists and human rights advocates together as equivalent dangers. His is only one of several recent cases that have received international attention; others include Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, a teenager sentenced to be crucified and beheaded for participating in Arab Spring protests, and Karl Andree, a British grandfather sentenced to 360 lashes for having some bottles of homemade wine.

It is also executing people at a record pace – on average, one every two days, according to Amnesty International.

The Liberals are now in a position to demonstrate their pledge to uphold the highest standards of ethics in government and stand up for the rights of women and others subject to institutionalized subjugation and violence by countries that don’t embrace human rights practices such as

Trudeau is about to fail his first human rights test — what to do about armoured car sales to Saudi Arabia

 Canada’s. Trudeau can make clear that, the moment he takes office, all details of the Saudi agreement will be made public, a full assessment will be carried out according to export permit requirements and Canada will only go ahead with it if it is found to meet those requirements, particularly in regard to human rights.

Arguments that it’s too late to alter an agreement are empty: if the Liberals can scrap the F-35 fighter purchase, pull out of Syria and halt the anti-ISIL mission, they can get out of a deal for some “Jeeps.” Otherwise all the rhetoric will be just cheap talk, and Trudeau will have already failed a major test of his willingness to meet his words with action.