The Growth Of Canada’s Arms Exports
The CBC has a rather interesting look today at the growth of Canada’s military exports. If you’re under the impression that we’ve remained a small player in this sector, think again…
“Canada’s military exports have soared in the past decade, a CBC News investigation has found, yet the federal government has not released an annual report on exports of arms and high tech military goods for four years.
Faced with a lack of information from Ottawa, CBC News did its own analysis, by constructing a database from figures kept by the Canada Border Services Agency.
CBC News found that military exports rose 3.5 times between 2000 and 2006. And according to the most recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Canada was the sixth biggest supplier of arms to the world in 2006.”
To read more on their methodology and conclusions, I encourage you to read the rest of the article.
Obviously, transparency is a very important, and something that we as Canadians should be demanding with regards to this issue.
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October 29th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I thought about sending this to you. They also claim that because of the connections to the US, which is true if you sign the security thingy as I used to work for a supplier of SBCs (single board computer) to the US military and avionics companies, they would be passed through the boarder with little record of the Canadian Federal Government.
The suppliers of course know, so it would not be too difficult to look ‘which companies have security clearances that are high, which companies supply military equipment, and then record their exports’ so why they don’t do it I don’t know.
Also in Kanata is Lockheed Martin (well they were there in 2005 when I was there).
I’m sure Stockwell Day will claim it is of National Security that they can’t be transparent. That’s another big buzzword used as an excuse for anything. Gotta love those buzzwords that encompass so much and yield such an umbrella that is so vague you can’t really understand it completely unless you’re in the know.
Can we actually write to Stockwell and the rest? Or does it get thrown out like the old Letters to Santa ( i know these don’t get thrown out anymore, I know of someone who is friends with someone that volunteers his time to write replies “from Santa” — sorry to any kids reading this)
October 29th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
If Diemaco was simply making weapons for Canada alone, with limited runs to other nations’ forces on the side, there wouldn’t have been much of an incentive for Colt to turn them from a licensee into a subsidiary. Given the lax laws on commercial and governmental arms sales across our border, I wouldn’t be surprised if we (and the US) use America as a launderer in order to sell weapons, parts, and ammo to countries that we never would directly.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Canadian branch of Lockheed Martin was working in part on the GBMD missile shield. Personally, I see this less as intent on actually defending these countries from “rogue states” and shifting the balance of power in these regions (although that’s certainly an intended effect), and more of a way for the United States (and Canada, maybe) to find an alternate way to tap into these countries’ defense budgets.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Geez, when I saw the blog entry title, I thought this was gonna be about the Canadarm for the space shuttle.
File this firmly in the “news to me” category…
October 29th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Diemeco
October 29th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
“Canada was the sixth biggest supplier of arms to the world.”
I guess I am gonna have to stop bragging to my friends overseas about what a peace promoting nation we are.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Wow.
I honestly did not know that.
I must agree that transparency is of huge importance…especially since I was unaware of this until reading the article you referenced above. I wonder how many other people aside from myself were totally oblivious to the amount of weapons we export, and to who, and how secretive they are being about it…
What concerns me is what exactly the Federal Government is trying to hide by neglecting to provide accurate if any information about the weapons they ship out.
I love being Canadian, but I am totally ashamed that our government is somewhat behind perpetuating that vicious cycle. Sixth largest…that really sucks.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Canada……Go Ahead and Pull My Trigger……
October 29th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
You know I wish sometimes there was a way to say something.
To just wake up one day climb the roof of my shitty apartment building and scream at the top of my lungs for everyone else to: “STOP!”
“JUST STOP”
Stop your cars, stop your kids, stop your cleaning, your laundry, your carwash, just stop everything.
“WAKE UP!”
“WAKE THE F*** UP”
But everyone would keep driving and I’m now the nutbag.
Everyone is awake. I just don’t know what it would take to get everyone off their high horse and buck up for a change. It can’t be picketers and protests. People need to make a revolutionary change. Perhaps comparable to Marx overthrow of the Bourgeousie Class. Maybe the Proletariat isn’t just the working class. Perhaps it’s simply those who are sick of what is happening in the world. We have enough means of communication for everyone in the world to unite, alas…
I don’t know what else to say…
I need to do something…
I just don’t know how yet!
October 29th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Anyone up for brainstorming?
October 29th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
[quote comment="31144"]People need to make a revolutionary change. Perhaps comparable to Marx overthrow of the Bourgeousie Class. Maybe the Proletariat isn’t just the working class. Perhaps it’s simply those who are sick of what is happening in the world. [/quote]
Riight…Marx was on the ball and everyone else needs to wake the fuck up. Maybe we can all go live in communes where we can smoke weed and grow our own vegetables like the hippies of the 60’s. You go ahead and do that and while you are doing that Im gonna go finish my degree and contribute to the economy by making guns and driving around in my gas guzzling 4X4.
PS yeah im sure thats exactly what he meant by the proletariat.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Zeitgeist.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
[quote comment="31149"][quote comment="31144"]People need to make a revolutionary change. Perhaps comparable to Marx overthrow of the Bourgeousie Class. Maybe the Proletariat isn’t just the working class. Perhaps it’s simply those who are sick of what is happening in the world. [/quote]
Riight…Marx was on the ball and everyone else needs to wake the fuck up. Maybe we can all go live in communes where we can smoke weed and grow our own vegetables like the hippies of the 60’s. You go ahead and do that and while you are doing that Im gonna go finish my degree and contribute to the economy by making guns and driving around in my gas guzzling 4X4.
PS yeah im sure thats exactly what he meant by the proletariat.[/quote]
Are you being sarcastic or just ignorant? I’m having a hard time with this one…
October 29th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Nothing will change, unfortunately, why? 70,000 jobs across Canada, that’s why! We’ll never get the transparency because that would in turn make us choose, right? Call me cynical, or complacent, but I believe it to be reality for the next little while anyway.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Then what did you think the Proletariat meant? Sotiredithurts?
And where did you get commune living out of what I said?
I dunno…just some clarity would be SUPER!
October 29th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Before everyone gets all “Lefty” on this one, please put your thinking hats on and critically appraise this media report. It’s important to not miss the key points of the story and not just focus on the sensationalistic media story.
I listen to CBC radio all day so I’ve heard alot about this today. When you get to hear the story from many different sectors it takes on a very different tone. The focus on “military exports” is just to sell newspapers and get people to buy advertising for TV shows. When you hear what’s actually included and the scale as to what it is, I hope we can all be savvy enough to realise the truly important parts.
Firstly,
Try and come up with a list of countries off the top of your head that are capable of creating and exporting arms at any sort of mass scale. Here’s my try: USA, Russia, Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Mexico?, France, Italy, ……and now I’m stumped. If someone wants to google it, go ahead. So it should come as no surprise that Canada could rank 6 in something that only a handful of countries may be doing at an exportable scale. I’d like to see the list and the dollar signs attached to each member of the list.
Next,
What is included in “military exports”? According to an economist on the radio, they can include things made by military contractors that are used in the private sector or a non-military function. A good example being small craft helicopters - some countries buy small military helicopters from Canada to use for other non-military activities (although the person on the radio didn’t say what these other activities were).
Parts made in Canada that are then used to assemble other military apparatus in the US are also included, for example, making a bearing in Canada for a vehicle that is assembled somewhere else.
So where are the big ticket items,
Canadas big ticket items include armoured vehicles and products made in the aerospace industry. When they talk of Columbia, apparently we sold them airplanes, which aren’t cheap. The problem being that they may be using those airplanes in a corrupt fashion to export drugs.
So one ethical question, to which I have no answer at this time is, to what extent is Canada responsible for the militarisation of the world by providing armoured vehicles that protect soldiers?
Next,
You need to think in terms of an economy of scale. Apparently military exports are a 2 billion dollar a year industry in Canada, which to those on fixed incomes seems like a lot but it needs to be compared to other industries. What do we export in Oil? What do we export in Corn? What do we export in high end Road Cycling and Triathlon bikes ie Cervelo? If you were to add up all the salaries of Canadian NHLers, what would that be? and how do we measure up against other countries really? What if being 6th on the list means being only 2% of whoever is 4th? Are we really that big of a monster?
One interviewee on the radio said that if Canada stopped exporting military items, it would have next to no effect on our economy.
The issue that is going to get lost in all the media hype (ooohhhh someone said guns and missiles ooohhhhh) is that the Canadian Government hasn’t released a proper report since 2002. Apparently they are legally bound to release a Yearly report! They have been breaking the law every year since 2002.
The big issue should be the transparency, not the exports or that Canada is now somehow an evil arms-dealing super-power.
JM
October 29th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
[quote comment="31155"]
Are you being sarcastic or just ignorant? I’m having a hard time with this one…[/quote]
both
Honestly i just hate Karl Marx and BeccaSteps analogy gave me visions of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Not that im suggesting this of Becca but ive often found people who talk of world unity as ones who indirectly (or directly) advocate a leftist totalitarian ideology, certainly thats what Marx did. Quite frankly id rather ignorantly drive my suv and shoot my gun freely though it may ultimately bite me in the ass in the future than live in such a society.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Fair enough…
I can see your point of view.
I’m not talking about totalitarian ideology, although I can see why you might think that considering the context I provided. But to put it simply, Karl Marx did believe that capitalism could benefit society if implemented appropriatly. However, that isn’t always mentioned. So perhaps I should have added that to the readers.
Communism doesn’t work. History has proven that.
I’m just saying that if we wanted reform and we are unhappy with what is happening around us today, in regards to the exporting of military weapons, to the Uranium and Nuclear reactors Canada sells to Third World countries and the like, then maybe people should be finding ways to use the technological means that we’ve been provided with in order to achieve change:
This has nothing to do with Communism or otherwise.
It’s just something I read and highlighted because even though Marxs’ theory is flawed, he still has good ideas and foresight to see what is now happening in our current societies.
To tie it together, I think that the exporting of weapons and the multitude of other issues on the political agenda need to be looked at by the people as a whole and coming together to form a way of turning the societal contract back into basic fundamental principles of a just society that would agree to the majority of the people as a fair and equitable way to live our lives together, without certain threats to our existence and basic human rights.
I’m not by any means saying that everyone should have an equal piece of cake, but everyone should have the right to basic human needs and safety.
This issue along with many others, voids the societal contract. I don’t think people would have given up their freedom and agreed to a societal contract if the government or any other monarchy for that matter, would threaten themselves or their family. I’m just saying. I could be wrong…it’s an ongoing debate, which is why I don’t shout from the rooftop of my shitty apartment.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
And in response to Jospeh M.
One of Canada’s big ticket items that isn’t talked about is the worlds largest Uranium deposits in the world, in Northern Saskatchewan. One of our mines in ‘97 had over 50 million pounds of Uranium.
Our government also sells CANDU Nuclear Reactors to third world countries and Korea is also one of them. One reactor can produce 50 bombs. Allegedly.
But it is also one of our big ticket items.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Anyone else notice that since 2002 we have been involved in a major stabilization and redevelopment effort in Afghanistan? One in which a key role is helping to train and equip — and I stress equip — the Afghan security forces so that they might better upkeep the rule of law and ensure stability in their own country? Not saying we shouldn’t have transparency or assurance that we are making ethically and morally up standing decisions in regards to the manufacturing and sale of arms and military equipment… Just suggesting that perhaps this shouldn’t be coming as such a surprise considering our international commitments at present.
October 30th, 2007 at 4:19 am
JM - Good points, valid. Bombardier could have a big role in our placement in those stats. But Diemeco is an example of a big player in big ticket items.
October 30th, 2007 at 4:30 am
We’re in it for the money, you know law don’t mean a thing.
Give our crew a tax break and weapons we will bring.
We’ll tell you that we’re peaceful,
But when you really see it, you’ll find
We’re in it for the money, you know law don’t mean a thing.
Sorry to “Weird Al” great lyrics. Just couldn’t stop myself.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:08 am
I think Joseph M made some good points. It’s certainly difficult from this particular article to determine what being 6th really means, and what percentage of those sales actually involve arms.
I think the concern is centered more around the lack of transparency, above all.
From the CBC article:
Canada being a relatively open society (that previously advocated peaceful solutions to problems … I wish I could say we still did), I don’t think this is the sort of trend we want to encourage and a little bit of public outrage over the matter is probably a healthy thing.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:20 am
Haha oops. I am not actually quoting myself in above comment, that was from the CBC article… I’m not sure how that happened…
October 30th, 2007 at 8:18 am
i took a course at the university over the summer that dealt with issues of how many fingers the US and Canada have in the pie of warfare supply. my prof quoted canada as ranking third in the world for supplying arms.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:53 am
[quote comment="31161"]Before everyone gets all “Lefty” on this one, please put your thinking hats on and critically appraise this media report. It’s important to not miss the key points of the story and not just focus on the sensationalistic media story.[/quote]
It’s also important to understand that there’s been no adequate data on what’s being exported for the last four years and as most of the sales are going to the US it’s probable that Canada is supporting the Iraq War effort. A 350% increase in arms sales in seven years is something that needs to be looked at closely, especially considering the foreign/domestic policies of some of the countries Canada is selling arms to.
As for types of arms, even a transport helicopter can be deadly if it puts a fully armed squad into combat. So can training military and security forces in countries where they’re inevitably going to be used against their own populations for religious/political/economic reasons.
Military exports are military exports no matter how you try and spin it.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
[quote comment="31161"]
Try and come up with a list of countries off the top of your head that are capable of creating and exporting arms at any sort of mass scale. Here’s my try: USA, Russia, Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Mexico?, France, Italy, ……and now I’m stumped. If someone wants to google it, go ahead. So it should come as no surprise that Canada could rank 6 in something that only a handful of countries may be doing at an exportable scale. I’d like to see the list and the dollar signs attached to each member of the list.
[/quote]
What about this list that was linked directly off the CBC article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arming-the-world/list-suppliers.html
In a way, I think the numbers help make your point…there’s lots of grey in this, IMHO. $600M might not be that much, depending on what it is. A bargain-basement Apache helicopter can be bought 3rd hand these days for $20M, just as a random example.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
As has been stated, all it takes is the production of a circuit board that ends up in an attack helicopter. But that doesn’t make it any less of an issue.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
When seen in context it’s not hard to understand why there’s been a large growth in Canadian defence exports. The Canadian defence industry has had close ties to the US military for decades, and over the years the US has lost much of it’s industrial and high-tech base and is more dependent now on other nation to meet it’s defence needs. As more information comes out I think we’ll find that many of the Canadian arms exports to the US are in the form of sub-components for defence programs, which is probably one reason we’re being told so little about it. It’s a good bet that many US weapons and vehicles have electronics and software made in Canada.
Also the off-shore arms exports from Canada closely echo the US defence policy, Saudi Arabia is the next largest recipient of Canadian military hardware and is also recieving large amounts of US military aid in an attempt to secure that country from the growing instability in the region. The fact that Canada has sent a rather modest $17 million in military exports to Iraq is due to Canada being shut out of most contracts there because our not participating in the US invasion and occupation.
So like during the Cold War Canada is is still acting as a backstop to the US military, something that hasn’t always been popular with some Canadians. In the 1980s the Squamish Five bombed Litton Industries in Ontario which was producing guidance electronics for the US cruise missile program.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
[quote comment="31205"]As has been stated, all it takes is the production of a circuit board that ends up in an attack helicopter. But that doesn’t make it any less of an issue.[/quote]
haha…I spend a half hour trying to put down my thoughts on this and you do it in a couple of lines.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Yeah, I agree. I wasn’t trying to justify anything up there either, I guess I got sidetracked from the main argument about transparency. Half of the equation is that $600M might not be a big deal, depending on what it’s for, who you’re selling to, and what they’re doing with it…but the other half of the equation would be disclosure, and if you aren’t disclosing this information, people (rightfully) have a tendency to assume the worst.