Fix Canada's Arms Export Control Laws

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goal: 6,000

Yemen is in the midst of a horrific humanitarian crisis after being bombed to bits by Saudi Arabia for the last two years. The impacts on human life have been staggering.[2-3]

And in the midst of it all, a shocking new report has found that Canadian weapons sales to Saudi Arabia skyrocketed in 2016.[4-5] We’re literally profiting off of this humanitarian crisis, and we have to put a stop to it.

A new bill is going through the House of Commons that could strengthen Canada’s arms export laws and prevent us from selling weapons to countries like Saudi Arabia in the future - but the Liberals have left loopholes in the bill that would mean weapons could still slip through to human rights-abusing countries.[6-9]

Right now, there’s a committee looking at the bill and deciding what amendments it should make. If we flood Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and select committee members with emails, it will show that the public is watching this issue closely, which could convince them to take these loopholes out. With only days to go before the amendments have to be finalized, we have to act fast.

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Sources

[1] http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/canada-is-back-just-not-in-yemen/

[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-bulletin-issue-29-20-november-2017

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/12/yemen-cholera-outbreak-worst-in-history-1-million-cases-by-end-of-year

[4] https://ipolitics.ca/2017/11/09/canadian-military-exports-saudi-arabia-exploded-2016/

[5] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canada-now-the-second-biggest-arms-exporter-to-middle-east-data-show/article30459788/

[6] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/former-dion-human-rights-aide-pans-ottawa-arms-control-plans/article37090638/

[7] http://www.rideauinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ATT-Report-Bill-C-47-Oct31.pdf

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/thomas-woodley/canada-cant-pass-this-highly-flawed-arms-trade-bill-as-is_a_23277569/

[9] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberal-bill-leaves-major-hole-in-arms-trade-treaty-obligations-study/article36796196/

Email the Foreign Affairs Committee and Minister Freeland

Subject

Dear Minister Freeland, Parliamentary Secretary DeCourcey and Mr Nault,

I am writing to ask you to strengthen Bill C-47. In light of the ongoing Saudi Arabia-led conflict in Yemen and evidence that Canadian weapons are being used by the Saudi government against civilians, it is more important than ever to improve our weapons export control laws. While it is positive that Canada is finally taking steps to join the Arms Trade Treaty, there are serious loopholes in the bill which need to be closed for the bill to be effective at preventing weapons from ending up in the hands of human rights abusers.

Firstly, I am asking you to ensure there is a legally binding mechanism to prevent the government from using its discretion to approve the sale of arms to countries which may use them against civilians.

Secondly, I am asking you to introduce reporting and regulation on arms exports to the United States to help prevent Canadian-made weapons from being resold to third parties who may use them to commit human rights abuses.

Canada has a duty to lead on human rights, and we have a duty to ensure that we are not benefiting economically from the sale of weapons to countries which are perpetuating humanitarian crises.

Sincerely,

Send to

Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland
Parliamentary Secretary to Foreign Affairs Matt DeCourcey
Bob Nault, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

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Fix Canada's Arms Export Control Laws

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