Tories want to boost trade in arms with Brazil, Chile
OTTAWA — The Conservative government is looking to ease restrictions on the sale of weapons and military equipment to Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea in what is believed to be the latest effort to bolster Canada’s arms exports.
While the defence industry will applaud the move and say it will lead to more jobs and economic prosperity for Canadians, others are questioning whether selling guns to developing countries is the wisest and best way for Canada to make a buck.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development quietly launched consultations Wednesday asking for feedback on its plan to add those four countries to what is called the Automatic Firearms Country Control List.
The list was established more than 20 years ago and currently contains 34 countries, which represent the only states to which Canadian defence companies and others can export prohibited weapons and military equipment.
The consultation notice does not indicate why the government wants to add Peru, Chile, Brazil and South Korea to the list.
However, the last country to be added was Colombia this past December, and a few days later, Canada sold Colombia 24 armoured vehicles like the type used by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan for $65.3 million.
Steven Staples, president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, believes similar contracts are waiting for the four new countries to be added to the list.
“Every time they try to change the laws in terms of making it legal to export arms to certain countries, there’s usually an arms deal that follows directly behind it,” he said before noting Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Peru in the spring.
The Conservative government has been ramping up efforts to turn Canada into a major producer and exporter over the past few years.
It said in its latest federal budget, tabled at the end of March, that it wants growth in the defence industry to “provide Canada with a stronger manufacturing base with a capacity for leading-edge technology and innovation.”
It has since ordered federal research agencies such as the National Research Council to focus on the sector while simultaneously setting up multimillion-dollar funds to support business-driven research and development.
It has also been advocating a “Buy in Canada” approach to purchasing new military equipment even as the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation, has turned itself into the federal government’s arms salesman.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, an umbrella group that represents the sector, says the defence and security industry generated $12.6 billion in economic activity last year, of which $6.4 billion was from foreign sales. The association, which appears to have the Conservative government’s ear, says it wants to double those exports over the next five years, which will only be achievable with federal support.
But Staples, a frequent critic of increased military spending, questioned both the logic and morality around turning Canada into a global arms dealer.
“The arms industry is no way to build an economy that Canadians can be proud of,” he said. “Rather we should be looking at things like energy and environmental technology. We could be leaders in mass transportation.”
Concerns have previously been raised about Canada’s decision to sell armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, which reportedly used them to help crack down on protesters in neighbouring Bahrain during the 2011 Arab Spring.
There have also been questions about the rationale for the sale to Colombia given that country’s difficult history, including the Colombian government’s treatment of labour workers and indigenous peoples.
Staples noted Peru has also struggled when it comes to respecting the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly around mining projects, while Brazil has been swept with protests for more than a month that include allegations of police brutality.
“Certainly Latin America has a history of conflict,” he continued.
“So I think there’s a concern ... we could be contributing to destabilizing relationships between countries or that they will even be used against protest movements, indigenous peoples or workers ... involved in labour action.”