Defence Minister Bill Blair will be the keynote speaker at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa on Wednesday May 29
Photo: Defence Minister Bill Blair. Photo by Canadian Press/Justin Tang.
The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) has announced via social media that Canada’s Minister of National Defence Bill Blair will be the opening breakfast keynote speaker at the CANSEC arms show that is scheduled to take place at the EY Centre in Ottawa on Wednesday May 29 starting at 7:50 am.
What is CANSEC?
CADSI promotes CANSEC as “Canada’s leading defence, security & emerging technology event” and lists its co-sponsors including L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Leonardo and BAE Systems. Exhibitors at CANSEC have also included Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, Rheinmetall and Raytheon.
The role these companies have played in arming the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza have been documented by the Oakland, California-based American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability.
The CANSEC arms show also lists “Israel representatives” as exhibitors. While not further specified, this could refer to the International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Blair on arms exports
Notably, CBC has reported: “Blair said the [federal] government will respect export permits [to Israel] approved before [January 8] and pause approvals going forward.”
His comment followed the passage of the motion in the House of Commons that states Canada will “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”
The call for an arms embargo
Multiple organizations, including the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) continue to call on Canada to support an arms embargo.
Their call states: “While the Minister of Foreign Affairs [Melanie Joly] has verbally committed to pausing approvals of future arms export permits to Israel, Canada must go further. It must cancel existing export permits, close all export loopholes, and implement an Arms Embargo under Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, which recognizes the necessity of a two-way prohibition.”
That call also highlights: “Canadian companies export weapons, components, and military technology to Israel, including via the United States. These military exports, whether directly or by way of intermediaries, put Canada at risk of complicity in Israel’s grave human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.”
It further notes: “Canada also buys and permits the import of military technology from Israel. It is Israel’s sixth largest arms buyer. Gaza and the West Bank function as a laboratory for Israeli arms manufacturers. The weapons deployed against Palestinians, including during Israel’s wars on Gaza, are marketed to international customers like the Government of Canada as ‘battle-tested’ and ‘combat-proven’. Canadian tax-dollars pay for these Israeli-made weapons, providing profits to the Israeli arms industry and giving Israel moral cover for using those weapons against Palestinians.”
Blair recently challenged in Toronto
As seen in this Instagram video, a member of World Beyond War in Toronto recently challenged Blair on Canada’s continued relationship with the Israeli military.
Concerns have also been raised about the Defence Minister in relation to his opposition to calls for a ceasefire in late-October, his comments in November suggesting that he believes the Israeli military is acting with “maximum restraint” in Gaza, his decision in December to purchase Spike LR2 missiles manufactured by Israeli state-owned arms dealer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. and most recently, as The Maple has reported: “Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) will host trial sessions for Israeli arms technology used to kill Palestinians and maintain apartheid and occupation during a three-week ‘sandbox’ event in Alberta” from May 27 to June 21.
Upcoming mobilizations
World Beyond War has highlighted that a mobilization will take place starting at 7 am on Wednesday May 29 outside the EY Centre.
This year, multiple groups, including the International League for Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), are also calling on the Government of Canada to hold “an independent and in-depth inquiry into CADSI and its direct involvement in human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
Peace Brigades International has called on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and to show its strong support for institutions of global justice, including the International Court of Justice.
Further reading: More than 800 human rights defenders killed in Palestine over the past six months (PBI-Canada article, April 26, 2024).
0 Comments