Submenu
|
Making the guns that kill the peopleA little known fact is that Canada is a major producer of military equipment. In fact, as the table below shows, Canada ranks higher than China, a country often cited as a major weapons supplier. Table: Largest global arms exporters 2004 1
The top five Canadian companies producing military equipment in 2005 were the following:2
Canadian companies sell their goods to the Department of National Defence for use by the Canadian Forces and export them to countries around the world. The Canadian government requires licenses for all military-related exports to prevent Canadian equipment from being sent to countries in conflict or in violation of basic human rights. However, these licenses are not required for exports to the U.S. This means that Canadian weapons and weapons components bound for the U.S. may be used wherever the U.S. military is engaged. They may also be sold by the U.S. to other parties, thereby circumventing the reason for Canadian export licenses in the first place. Besides military equipment, Canada also ranks high in the production of ammunition. According to Oxfam, Canada is the fourth-largest known exporter of ammunition for small arms. (Many countries are in the business of producing ammunition but do not report it.) Between 2002 and 2004 Canadian firms earned approximately $26 million US annually.3 Small arms kill more than 1,000 individuals around the world every day.
1Congressional Research Service figures, as quoted in Ken Epps, "Canada ranked 6th largest weapons exporter in 2004," The Ploughshares Monitor (Autumn 2005, Volume 26:3): 12-14. 2Ken Epps, "Canada's largest military contractors 2005" Ploughshares Monitor (Summer 2007, Volume 28:2). 3Oxfam, "Ammunition: The Fuel of Conflict" (June 2006). Accessed 2 July 2006. |
|
|
