Stop
Ottawa Arms Shows!Contrary to a Motion passed in 1989, the City of Ottawa will host CANSEC 2009 this May 27-28 at Lansdowne Park.
CANSEC is Canada's largest international arms trade event.
Stop
Ottawa Arms Shows!
Contrary to a Motion passed in 1989, the City of Ottawa will host
CANSEC 2009 this May 27-28 at Lansdowne Park.
CANSEC is Canada's largest international arms trade event.
Petitions
*
Sign our ONLINE
PETITION now
*
Circulate PAPER
PETITIONS (print a copy)
Contact Ottawa City Hall
* Click
to
CONTACT Ottawa City Council and Mayor
*
Click here
for a SAMPLE LETTER
(The excellent letter above was sent by the Ottawa Presbytery of the United
Church of Canada to Mayor O'Brien and Ottawa City Councillors on Januray 27,
2009. It calls on them to "respect the commitment made by City Council in 1989
to ban war-related trade shows from municipal property.")
*
Another sample letter, this one from Peace Watch Committee, of First
Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa
Attend Ottawa Events
Please join us at these upcoming events:
Stop Ottawa's Arms Bazaars:
Information and
Strategy Session to Oppose CANSEC
(Click for more
details on speakers and program)
Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
Southminster
United Church,
15 Aylmer Ave at Bank
Street.
(Just south of the Rideau Canal. Enter from the Galt St. entrance at the
back of the complex.)
Rally to Oppose Ottawa's
Arms Bazaars:
Speakers, Music and
Candlelight Vigil
Wednesday, May 27 (time
to be announced)
Southminster
United Church,
Speakers and Music in the
Sanctuary followed by a Candlelight Procession just across the
bridge to Lansdowne Park, site of CANSEC..
Related Event: Film Documentary - OTTAWA PREMIERE
MYTH FOR PROFIT: CANADA'S ROLE IN INDUSTRIES OF WAR AND PEACE
Hintonburg Community Centre
1064 Wellington Street (3 blocks west of Somerset)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 7:00 pm
More info and a trailer The film will be followed by a discussion with the film makers, Amy Miller and Boban Chaldovich.
Cross Canada Tour: The film makers are going on a cross-Canada tour in March and April to show their documentary in dozens of cities.
Note: One of the people interviewed in this documentary is Richard Sanders, coordinator of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT), editor of COAT's magazine Press for Conversion! and author of COAT's report on Canadian Military Exports to Israel: Aiding and Abetting War Crimes in Gaza (2008-2009).
Spread the word
*
Distribute these
factsheets or
fliers
*
Notify friends and colleagues about this report
*
Send links to the report to relevant list serves
*
Post links to relevant websites
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Use data from this report in writing/presenting, such as blogs, articles,
essays, speeches, seminars, lectures, sermons, etc etc.
*
Please cite this report and direct people to COAT's website for more
information.
Companies
Divest
*
Divest yourself from military companies
*
Encourage friends and colleagues to do likewise
*
Contact mutual fund companies, pension funds to divest
*
Publicise the results
Shareholder Actions
*
Owning one share in a company may give certain rights to the
shareholder. Many activists have used this to attend company AGMs and use such
fora to raise questions, make comments, and even introduce resolutions to be
voted upon by other shareholders.
*
Publicise the results of any such actions.
Dialogue
Contact companies, ask for details, tell them what you
think.
Protest
Organize peaceful protests, vigils or other events to draw
attention to military exports.
Media
*
Canada's mainstream corporate media has all-but completely ignored the role of
Canada's arms trade in facilitating war and oppressing human rights.
*
Tell the media about COAT's report and encourage (or challenge) them to investigate the facts
presented therein.
*
Contact any sympathetic journalists who you think might pursue this.
*
Write letters, emails, leave messages on radio call-back machines, take part in call-in talk
shows, phone news rooms, etc
Research
Can you help with
COAT's research on Canadian military exports. Are you a student, teacher, professor, journalist,
author? Hopefully COAT's research will inspire you to pursue your own
investigations. You could also contact COAT
to volunteer some time to help us further this work.
Federal Government
*
Tell your MP, the PM, the Department of International Trade to
stop permitting Canadian military exports to governments that are at war and/or
arming governments that at war. Send
copies of your correspondence to the media, and others.
* Tell them what you think about how the government has "invested" billions in tax payers' money to subsidize profitable military industries.
* Urge them to stop giving "contributions" of about $65,000 per year to the Canadian Association of Military and Security Industries to support their efforts to promote "international trade" in war-related products.
* Don't be surprised when, if a government representative even bothers to respond, that they obfuscate and even deny Canada's role in arming countries that are abusing human rights and/or waging illegal wars. If a reply is received, they will proudly pretend that Canadian military exports are among the most tightly restricted in the world. They will claim that Canada does not export to countries at war or to those that may even potentially be using Canadian military/security equipment to abuse the human rights of their citizens, or the citizens of the countries they are at war with.
* Tell them to close the loop holes. For instance, Canadian military exporters do not need to get permits for exports to the US. Therefore even though the US is engaged in arming and fighting illegal wars and covert military operations around the world, Canadian arms trafficking to the US is totally uninhibited and unrestricted. If Canadian exports are so tightly restricted by our government, why do Canadian companies continue unabated and unrestrained exports of military goods to the US and Israel?
Important! Although it may easily be argued that trying to convince the Canadian government to stop military exports is a colossal waste of time, the exercise is useful if your correspondence is well publicized. Be sure to make your letters public so that others can learn about the government's longtime support and encouragement to Canadian military exporters.
Keep Informed
Join COAT's email
LISTSERVE
for occasional updates and to be notified of events
Donate and
Subscribe
Support COAT's ongoing research efforts and action campaigns
Subscribe to COAT's magazine. (See list of back
issues at the COAT website.)
There are plans for an upcoming issue to focus on
Canada's support for Israel's war making.
This web page is part of a campaign to expose and oppose CANSEC 2009, Canada's largest military industry trade show. CANSEC 2009 will be hosted by the City of Ottawa at Lansdowne Park, May 27-28, 2009. Please join us in exposing and opposing CANSEC! Click here to read more about our CAMPAIGN.
Related material:
COAT report:
Canadian
Military Exports to Israel: Aiding and Abetting War Crimes in Gaza (2008-2009).
The report
includes 10 detailed tables filled with data
detailing about
200 Canadian military companies that have direct or indirect export links to
Israel. Many of these companies are members of CADSI, the organizers of
CANSEC.
Here is an
article that ties together the issues in this report and the campaign against
CANSEC:
Canadian Military
Exports, War Crimes in Gaza
and Ottawa's Arms Bazaar