Stop Ottawa’s Arms Shows!
Origins of COAT: 20 Years and Counting!
In late 1988, the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) was initiated in order to expose a massive arms exhibition on Ottawa City property called ARMX. As a result of this first COAT campaign, Ottawa’s City Council passed an historic motion denouncing the international arms trade and banning all military trade shows from being held on municipal property.
For almost 20 years, the City of Ottawa has respected its ban on hosting arms bazaars, until now.
Secure Canada 2008
This year, City Staff signed a contract allowing Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park to be used for a military trade show in the autumn of 2008 called "Secure Canada." In July, COAT began organizing against this event which was sponsored, in part, by the U.S. embassy, major American weapons producers and the biggest lobby group for U.S. military industries. "Secure Canada" was eventually cancelled, organizers say, due to protests and federal government restrictions on official participation in controversial events during the federal election.
CANSEC 2009
Unfortunately, an even bigger and more blatant arms bazaar is now looming on Ottawa’s horizon. City Staff are negotiating with the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries to lease Lansdowne Park for Canada’s largest manifestation of the international arms trade, namely CANSEC. Please join our efforts to stop this military trade show, which is scheduled for late May 2009.
We stopped them before. We can do it again!
... Please sign COAT’s Online Petition ...
Whether or not you live in Ottawa, please sign our online petition telling Ottawa politicians to respect City Council’s 1989 commitment to ban all international arms shows from municipal property!
The above article is from Press for Conversion! magazine, Issue
#63 (November 2008)
"
Previous issues of this
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade publication include:
#62 "Putting the
Aid in Aiding and Abetting:
CIDA's Agents of Regime Change in Haiti's 2004 Coup"