On April 16, Peace Brigades International-Canada joined with Quakers Roots and the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) for an educational webinar on the DSEI arms show in London and the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa.
The webinar highlighted that many residents in both London, United Kingdom and Ottawa, Canada are unaware that massive arms and technology trade shows take place in their cities featuring the world’s biggest and most profitable weapons companies implicated in widespread human rights violations.
The video of this webinar will be available soon.
The CFSC promotion for the webinar highlighted that Pete Doubtfire from Quaker Roots in Britain would “discuss successes and lessons learned during their activism against DSEI – Britain’s biggest arms fair” and that “Mel Burns from CFSC will discuss our plans for Friendly actions during CANSEC”.
Photo of DSEI protest shared by Doubtfire at the webinar.
Quaker Roots is “a community of Friends building a creative, vibrant and radical Quaker response to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair” that takes place biannually in London, UK.
Quakers in Britain have called for an immediate end to the arms trade and for the UK to stop enabling war profiteers.
In their article about the most recent DSEI that ran from Tuesday September 9 to Friday September 12, 2025 at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands, Quakers in Britain noted: “On the eve of the arms fair, Quakers joined the Merchants of Death Walk of Witness past the headquarters of two major arms manufacturers, both linked to weapons used in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman. And on Wednesday Quakers visited the headquarters of Clarion Events who organise the arms fair, delivering a demand that they drop the DSEI event.”
Silent Vigil/Meeting for Worship at CANSEC, May 27
The webinar was hosted by Sandra Wiens, the CFSC’s Government Relations Representative.
She recently wrote in Quaker Concern (Spring 2026 issue): “CFSC is planning to be present at CANSEC this year, May 27-28 in Ottawa. CANSEC is the largest weapons fair in North America. We believe this is a moment where being present matters. We’re planning a silent vigil/Meeting for Worship on the afternoon of the first day of CANSEC to be a physical presence of unity and nonviolence—showing that strength comes through peace. We invite you to join us that day and show your opposition to the burgeoning war industry—directly and in a Friendly way.”
Wiens adds: “If you are unable to travel to Ottawa, we are also looking at holding an online Meeting in tandem with the actions on the ground.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International-Canada is amplifying the clear pattern of human rights violations against human rights defenders that can be linked to the weapons exports promoted at these trade shows. Our analysis can be read at PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026).
More information about plans for May 27 will be posted soon. Updates about the mass protest planned for May 28 can be found here.
PBI-Canada has a long history of accompanying opposition to arms shows in Ottawa.
Minutes from a January 24, 1993 PBI-Canada Board of Directors meeting state: “Alan Dixon reported that a weapons trade show under the title ‘Peacekeeping ‘93’ is being planned for March 16-17th in Ottawa. Dis-ARMX will be held March 16, 5-9 pm. Alan proposed PBI have a booth. He’ll do the groundwork. Toronto Office will supply materials for display, pamphlets, T-shirts to sell, etc.”
Additionally, Quaker activist Murray Thomson, who helped to found Peace Brigades International as a global human rights organization in 1981, was a regular presence at protests against CANSEC over the years, including the one below in May 2018. He passed away in May 2019 at 96 years of age, just a few weeks after participating in a ‘Say No to NATO’ protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa.
Photo: PBI-Canada was also present at the Stop CANSEC protest in May 2019 led by then-Ottawa Monthly Meeting member Colin Stuart.
