Taxpayers subsidize arms trade show - 2014

[Oscar]

Taxpayers subsidize defence industry's participation in arms trade shows

[ http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/ ... rade-shows ]

Lee Berthiaume Published on: September 4, 2014
Last Updated: September 7, 2014 7:32 PM EDT

The trade group representing Canada’s arms industry is defending the fact it has been using taxpayer dollars to attend international trade shows and engage potential customers abroad.

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is just one of 38 trade associations benefiting from a $3-million annual fund set up by the federal government to bolster Canadian exports and business outside the country.

The list includes trade groups representing Canada’s independent music industry, post-secondary institutions, and the aerospace sector.

But some are wondering why the defence industry in particular can’t afford to pay its own way, given it boasts $12 billion in revenues each year, includes a number of large multinational companies, and already receives significant support from the federal government.

“Why does this industry association need essentially a taxpayer subsidy to do something they would already do in the course of their business?” asked former Canadian ambassador for disarmament Peggy Mason, now president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute.

CADSI will receive only about $150,000 through the Global Opportunities for Associations fund this year, and has received less than $1 million since 2008, when the government changed it from an early program.

But Mason noted the money is being given at a time the Conservative government is cutting public service jobs, services and funding in a variety of other areas to produce a budgetary surplus before next year’s election.

Government documents obtained by the Citizen show the money was used last year to help Canadian defence companies participate in major trade shows in Paris, Washington, D.C., and Abu Dhabi.

The Conservative government has been promoting Canada’s defence industry as an economic priority, in large part because it hopes doing so will help offset the thousands of manufacturing jobs that have been lost in other sectors.

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[Oscar]

Canada’s arms exports: New report reflects old habits that fall short of the transparency standards of the Arms Trade Treaty

[ http://ploughshares.ca/pl_publications/ ... de-treaty/ ]

Author Kenneth Epps

Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 2 Summer 2014

In February the Export Controls Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Development and Trade Canada (DFATD) posted without notice its latest report on the export of military goods from Canada. The report reveals details of arms exports to all recipient countries except the United States for the calendar years 2010 and 2011. It breaks no new ground, adding nothing to reverse a decline in Canadian arms export reporting standards that began in 2003. Nor are there surprises in the nature and destination of the military shipments that the report documents. During the two-year period, the majority of Canada’s exported arms were shipped to NATO members and other allies. But, as was also revealed by previous reports, military equipment valued at tens of millions of dollars was exported to countries posing significant risks, including risks that the equipment will be used in hostilities or to perpetrate human rights violations. These sales were permitted despite the close control called for by Canadian export guidelines.

Following the pattern

DFATD reported that the value of exported military goods from Canada totaled $408.5-million in 2010 and $634.5-million in 2011. Neither figure includes military exports to the United States, the value of which is generally accepted to exceed the reported total. (Indeed, Project Ploughshares estimates that military exports to the United States typically are worth more than double the exports to all other states combined.) Because of a unique arrangement between Canada and the United States, military equipment sold to U.S. recipients does not require authorization through export permits. As a consequence, Canadian export control officials are unable to monitor or document U.S. shipments.

The 2011 military export total was the largest reported for several years, but neither the 2011 nor the 2010 totals should be seen as exceptional. Figure 1 illustrates the trend in the government-reported annual total for arms exports over a 34-year period (1978-2011). For comparative purposes, the annual totals have been adjusted for inflation based on 2011 dollars. Although there was significant variation in reported totals during the period, recent totals are close to the $537-million annual average for the period. The 2010 and 2011 totals were, respectively, below and above the mean by similar amounts. The 2011 figure represents a significant climb from values reported from 2005 to 2007, but it is not far from the norm over the longer term.

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