Canadian Foreign Minister endorses call for global ceasefire the day after he lifts restrictions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia

To send a letter to the Prime Minister about the need to fully respect the call for a global ceasefire, please click here.

On April 10, CBC reported, “Canada ‘fully supports’ an appeal from the United Nations for an immediate global ceasefire so the world can fight the coronavirus pandemic together. On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne and International Development Minister Karina Gould issued a statement, backing the UN leader’s concerns.”

And yet the day before, The Globe and Mail reported, “Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the suspension of approval of new [arms export] permits for Saudi Arabia is now lifted.”

“They cited a government review made public last September to tell Ottawa it had found no credible evidence linking Canadian exports of military equipment to Saudi Arabian human-rights violations. The same report also advised the government that 48 export permits were ready to be signed should the government lift its moratorium.”

Canada had quietly signed on to the global ceasefire on March 30, but its first public announcement on it on April 10 came after the news about lifting its brief moratorium on new arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Adding to this concern, CADSI, the lobby group for the arms industry in Canada, announced on April 2 that the Canadian government had also recognized “defence and security in its definition of essential services and functions.”

That means that, despite the social distancing rules that the country has been asked to respect, the factory that builds armoured vehicles that may be being used by the Saudi military in Yemen remains open during the pandemic.

While not speaking to this situation specifically, the UN Secretary-General has cautioned, “A substantial number of parties to conflict have expressed their acceptance for the call [but] here is a huge distance between declarations and deeds — between translating words into peace on the ground and in the lives of people.”

To send an email to the Prime Minister asking him to endorse the global ceasefire and state that the arms industry is not an essential service, please click here.

We launched this petition on April 8 and generated more than 150 letters over the two days prior to the Foreign Affairs minister making a public statement in support of the global ceasefire. Please ask the Prime Minister speak to the matter and feel free to personalize your letter as this situation continues to evolve.

As the Secretary-General says, “To silence the guns, we must raise the voices for peace.”