DO: Help Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar June 2-3

a campaign brought to us by our members:

Help Oppose CANSEC, Canada's Top Weapons Bazaar! Please look over the list below to see how you might participate in our campaign to expose and oppose CANSEC. You can also find this information at the link above.

CANSEC is Canada's largest weapons trade exhibition, and it will be held in Ottawa, June 2-3, 2010. Many thousands of buyers, sellers, users and promoters of the latest military technologies will be rubbing shoulders at this war industry extravaganza. Ottawa's fairgrounds will be bristling with displays set up by hundreds of companies to showcase cutting-edge military hardware used in Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, and many other killing fields.

CANSEC exhibitors make everything from air-launched missiles and high-tech electronic components for the world's deadliest warplanes, to offensive armoured battle vehicles, multi-million dollar gizmos for the militarisation of space, and down-to-earth automatic weapons, tear-gas rifles and other handy crowd-control devices for keeping pesky protesters in their place. Most of Canada's military production is exported, and of course most of Canada's war exports go to the United States.

Make no mistake, war is big business, and business will be booming at CANSEC 2010! In fact, making a killing on war has probably never been more lucrative. Ask the so-called "Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries." This Canadian government-funded lobby group, which organises CANSEC, has never been stronger. It now boasts a membership of 800 corporations.

Some suggestions are listed below, and on the website, for people who are in Ottawa and for others outside the area.

1) Rally for Peace, June 2 (5-7 pm)
While a who's who of Canada's military-industrial-political complex, and their closest foreign friends, are gathering for a fancy-dress dinner inside CANSEC, we will be holding a large peace event just outside CANSEC's gates. If you are in Ottawa, please join us for inspiring music and great speakers at the Bank Street entrance to Lansdowne Park. CANSEC organisers say their gala reception is "designed to optimize interactions with current and potential contacts, clients and stakeholders." Join us in "optimising interactions" with many friends and allies in the struggles for peace, the environment, human rights, democracy and Third-World solidarity.

(2) Don't Sit on "deFence," Decorate it!
Even if you are not in Ottawa, you can help with this project. We have created a facebook website to collect materials to decorate the fence around CANSEC.

4) Take a Stand
Please ask any relevant organisations to take a position on the CANSEC arms bazaar. This may involve passing a resolution, making a public statement, issuing a media release, writing a letter to the government or the media, sending a contingent to join our efforts on June 2, or otherwise supporting or endorsing our campaign against CANSEC 2010.

Information about Canadian arms sales can be found in COAT's periodical Press for Conversion, # 64 - War is Business, which is free on line.