Federal government looks to developing countries to bolster arms sales
OTTAWA — The end of Canadian combat operations in Afghanistan and deep cuts to defence budgets in the United States and other allied nations are driving the federal government to look to developing countries as potential buyers of Canadian- made guns and military equipment.
The past few years have seen the government add Colombia to a list of countries to which Canadian defence companies and others can sell military weapons and equipment, and look to add a number of others such as India, Kuwait, Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea as well.
Yet while many have believed the move toward selling military goods to developing countries, some with questionable human rights records, was intended to expand Canada’s share of the global arms trade, it appears the real reason is to help the $ 12- billion industry through tough times.
A secret briefing note presented to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird in June says the plan to add Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Korea to the Automatic Firearms Country Control List was a direct response to reduced demand for Canadian- made weapons in “traditional markets” such as the U. S. and Britain.
“This request comes after the conclusion of Canada’s combat role in the NATO- led mission to Afghanistan, and when demand from traditional markets for defence products has significantly decreased, forcing the Canadian defence industry to look for new market opportunities,” reads the document, obtained by Postmedia News.
The U. S. and British governments, in particular, have drastically slashed defence spending in an effort to get their books in order. Colombia aside, it remains unclear whether any of the four countries will end up being added to the list.
But the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, which represents more than 975 defence- related companies, says about half the sector’s revenues come from foreign sales.
“We are supportive of government efforts to reduce barriers in this sector in the full knowledge that these transactions are governed by a rigorous export controls process explicitly designed to safeguard against their inappropriate use or sale,” association president Tim Page said in an email.
The sector says it is responsible for about 109,000 jobs in Canada.
Steve Staples, president of the Ottawa- based Rideau Institute and a frequent critic of military spending, questioned the moral and economic rationale for supporting the arms industry’s efforts to expand into developing countries, some with less- thanstellar human rights records.
“Rather than helping companies chase arms deals from questionable customers, the government should be helping these companies refocus their business away from declining defence markets toward more promising commercial markets,” he said.
The Conservative government has been promoting Canada’s defence industry as an economic priority, because it hopes doing so will help offset the thousands of manufacturing jobs that have been lost in other sectors.
The government has ordered Crown corporations and agencies such as the Canadian Commercial Corporation and the National Research Council to focus on developing and selling defence goods. It has also advocated a “Buy in Canada” approach for new military equipment, and is working to remove restrictions on the transfer of hundreds of military- related goods.
But in a recent analysis, Kenneth Epps, senior program officer at armscontrol group Project Ploughshares, found that the Canadian defence industry’s two largest customers — the U. S. and Canadian governments — have significantly scaled back orders.
At the same time, many other Western governments have been aggressively supporting their own flagging defence sectors following reduced demand and budget cuts, and targeting the same non- traditional markets as Canada.