Richard Sanders of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) has written a new report titled ‘Canadian Military Exports to Countries at War, 2003-2005’.
The report finds that:
1. “Between 2003 and 2005, Canada exported more than $5.6 billion in military exports to 73 countries.”
2. “Of these 73 nations, 39 had troops that were then engaged in major military conflicts, either at home or abroad. This means that 53% of the countries to which Canada exported military goods during those three years, were directly engaged in wars, invasions and/or occupations.”
3. “These 39 warring nations receiving Canadian military hardware accounted for a full 90% (i.e., $5.1 billion) of the total value of Canada’s military exports between 2003 and 2005.”
4. “The largest recipient — by far — of Canadian military exports was the United States. It received 70% (i.e., $4 billion worth) of Canada’s military exports during the three years in question.”
5. “The complete lack of trade restrictions on Canadian military exports to the US also means that the Canadian government has been free to hand out billions of dollars in grants and loans to Canada’s already highly profitable war industries. Under Canada-US trade agreements, such subsidies are not permitted except in military and energy sectors. The Pentagon is therefore free to take advantage of publicly-subsidized Canadian military products in all of its wars, invasions, interventions, regime changes and bombing operations.”
“This COAT report was produced in support of the campaign to oppose Canada’s largest military trade show, CANSEC, which is coming to Ottawa, May 27-28.”
The Council of Canadians has signed the petition opposing CANSEC. To add your name to that petition go to http://prax.ca/coat/No-Arms-Shows.
To read COAT’s new report, go to http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/exports/WarExports.htm.
