From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canadian Arms Sales are governed by the country's Export and Imports Permits Act. Sales with the United States are also specifically regulated by the 1959 Defence Production Sharing Arrangement.

As of 2000, the largest Canadian-owned arms-exporters were Canadian Aviation Electronics, the 61st-largest defence corporation in the world, and DY4, the 94th-largest. Foreign-owned companies based in Canada, such as General Motors and Bell Helicopter also contribute significantly.

In 1986, Project Ploughshares organised a protest against the conference HiTech '86 which is hosted by the Canadian government, advertising potential foreign markets to military-based contractors.^[1]

In 1991, the Canadian government amended the Exports and Imports Permit Act, to allow more freedom in selling LAVs and automatic weapons. Because it had recently been banned from Ottawa city property, the Arms Exhibition ARMX'91 moved to a new home at the Carp Airport outside the city limits.

In 1992, the Official Opposition Liberal Party introduced a Parliamentary proposal entitled Defence Conversion - A Liberal Priority, which outlined three possibilities for a post-Cold War Canadian arms trade, including "increas[ing] exports to developing countries where arms spending has been less affected by the Cold War's end - thereby adding to the misery of these countries., and instead advocating the third option, to "encourage Canadian defence companies to adjust and move away from a dependence on military production and export.".

In 1994, Canadian arms sales skyrocketed 48% to a total of $497.4 million, causing a brief controversy.^[2] This sharp escalation contributed to Canada's position as the 7^th largest supplier of military arms to Third World countries. Large sales included GM-built Light Armoured Vehicles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Air Defense Anti-Tank Systems and a Tactical Air Navigation System to Thailand.^[3]

1994 also saw Canada begin selling military arms to Algeria, Colombia, Indonesia and South Africa.

In 1995, Canada became the 7th-largest supplier of arms to third-world countries, and the 10th largest arms dealer overall.^[4]

In 2000, Canada's sales totalled $434 million, across 50 nations. Large sales included eight Howitzers to Brazil, and four more LAVs to Saudi Arabia, while smaller sales included $4.9 million worth of rockets to Malaysia, $270,976 in simulator parts to Morocco, $50,000 worth of aircraft parts to Indonesia, $27,000 in small arms to Argentina, $21,400 worth of missile parts to Egypt.^[5]

The year also marked the conclusion of the Canadian sale of 40 Huey military helicopters to the United States, who then refitted 33 of the craft with further military upgrades and sold them to Columbia, thus allowing Canada to bypass its restriction against selling arms to Columbia.^[6]

By 2001, the past ten years had seen $11.6 million worth of handguns and military aircraft parts sold to the Philippines.^[7]

Major sales in 2004 included the sale of $346 million worth of Bell Helicopters to Pakistan and $22 million worth of Pratt & Whitney Canada aircraft engines to Indonesia.

1. ^ http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1986-08/mcgregor.html
2. ^ "Export of Military Goods from Canada Annual Report" produced by the Export Controls Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. ^ http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/monitor/mons95a.html
4. ^ http://www.sfu.ca/cmns/research/newswatch/pcc/95-8.html
5. ^ http://www.alternet.org/story/12299/
6. ^ http://web.amnesty.org/pages/ENG-IOR300032003
7. ^ http://web.amnesty.org/pages/ENG-IOR300032003