An unparalleled look into Canada’s arms trade

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, Featured, Ploughshares Monitor

Just before Canada halted certain weapons exports to Turkey in April 2021, the FAAE committee released nearly 1,000 pages of government documents on Canada’s arms deals with Turkey. Although heavily redacted, the documents provide an unmatched look into the Canadian arms trade, including previously confidential memoranda to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hundreds of pages of internal correspondence by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and never-before-seen Canadian export permits for weapon systems.

Selling military goods to the United States

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, Featured, Ploughshares Monitor

The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), an independently operated Crown corporation, arranges contracts between Canadian manufacturers and foreign governments. Between 60 and 70 per cent of these contracts involve military goods, making the CCC Canada’s largest arms broker.

Could a new U.S. administration influence Canada’s arms export policy?

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, Featured, News

In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Joe Biden pledged to end arms sales to countries fueling the war in Yemen—specifically, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. …

Export suspension exposes flaws in Canada’s arms controls

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, Featured, News

On October 24, Radio Canada International reported that Canadian-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) had suspended the export of aircraft engines to “countries with unclear usage.” This action followed reports that these engines were being used in Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Turkey had sent to support Azeri forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Canada’s top five arms contracts to the U.S. – 2015-2020

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, Featured, News

The most recently released federal records indicates that Canada transferred over $2-billion CAD in military exports to customers around the world in 2018. Left unpublished are the vast military exports …

Urban Conflict: A Breeding Ground for COVID-19

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Featured, News

Unfortunately, war zones are not immune to COVID-19. But conflict—particularly the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA)—does make an effective response to the virus almost impossible. UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted the relationship between COVID-19 and conflict in his March appeal for a global ceasefire.

Will Canada’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia impact its bid for a UN Security Council seat?

Kelsey Gallagher Analysis and Commentary, Conventional Weapons, News

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long wanted to get Canada back on the UN Security Council, where it last had a seat in 2000. For Trudeau, such a return would signal Canada’s “renewed commitment to international peace and security.”