Photo: “A long list of the names of children killed in Gaza” outside the CANSEC arms show at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa, May 28, 2026.
On July 2-3, 2026, just a few weeks after CANSEC 2026, the CBC Radio program “Front Burner” broadcast a two-part episode on CANSEC arms show, the social costs of militarism, the Canadian government’s agenda to increase “defence exports by 50%”, and the human rights implications of arms exports.
In part 1, journalist Imogen Birchard describes the scene inside the CANSEC arms show taking place at the Cohere Centre: “I saw members of the Mexican, Colombian and German militaries. Representatives from the National Bank of Canada from Scotiabank. Academics from the University of Alberta and from Ottawa U.”
Birchard also describes the protest outside CANSEC: “They were confined to a pretty small area near one of the entrances, flanked on either side by cops with riot shields. They had flags and held up homemade signs, including one with a long list of the names of children killed in Gaza. Many of the largest arms manufacturers in the world had booths inside, and their wares are used by militaries, including the IDF.”
At that protest, Dr. Kavita Algu told Birchard: “I’m a physician, and it’s been really horrible, you know, over these last years watching all of our colleagues being murdered with weapons that are traded right here at CANSEC.”
In part 2, Birchard comments: “There’s just no way Canada’s defence industry is going to grow the way Carney wants it to by simply selling here at home. That’s why another aim of the Defence Industrial Strategy is to grow Canadian defence exports by 50%.”
Kelsey Gallagher, a senior researcher at Project Ploughshares, tells Birchard: “All things considered, particularly the structure of the Canadian defence industry, as well as the sort of integrated nature of the joint North American defence industrial base, it is most likely that this increase in arms exports by 50%, if realized, will drive arms exports through the path of least resistance, which is to the United States.”
He adds: “The vast majority of Canada’s arms transfers to the United States, there’s no oversight by Canadian officials. These are not authorized by the issuance of a permit. There’s no human rights risk assessment. And therefore they’re essentially allowed to be transferred to the U.S. without any regulatory oversight.”
Gallagher then references the components that Canada exports to the United States, including for the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet: “There is sometimes a perception that a component or a piece of a wingtip or something like that is not as dangerous as a rifle. …But it should be said that an F-35 cannot conduct an airstrike in Gaza without its constituent components.”
To listen to part 1 of the CBC Radio “Front Burner” investigation of “Canada’s massive military buildup”, click here, for part 2 click here.
Image: The promotion for CANSEC billed as “Canada’s largest defence, security & emerging tech tradeshow where $1B+ in business deals happen every year”.
