A local group is asking the community to join them in a cross-Canada demonstration demanding the country stop exporting arms to the United States for use in other countries.
Friends for Peace Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows will be taking part in the demonstrations in support of the No More Loopholes Bill C-233.
Parliament is set to vote on Bill C-233 legislation, a bill that would end automatic exemptions for U.S.-bound weapons, require human-rights reviews for all military exports, including parts, and prohibit transfers where there is a serious risk of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
Local organizer with Friends for Peace Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows, Sharon von Hollen, explained that Canada continues to export a majority of its military goods through the United States with no permits, no tracking, and no meaningful human-rights oversight.
At least 60 percent of Canada’s military exports is exempt from public or parliamentary scrutiny, she added. So, the weapons are integrated into U.S. weapons systems and then transferred to countries like Israel, and used by the U.S. military against Venezuela, and by ICE in American cities.
“This legal loophole has allowed Canadian-made arms to fuel war crimes and mass civilian suffering. Today, we’re forcing our MPs to pick a side: human rights and international law, or continued complicity in war crimes”, said von Hollen.
“With this protest action, we hope to inform more Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge constituents about this situation and encourage them to engage with our MP Dalton on this important issue,” added von Hollen.
She would like to see residents call on him to either support the bill or explain why Canada should continue, “routing unregulated weapons through the United States to avoid scrutiny while civilian deaths mount abroad.”
“Canada cannot claim to stand for human rights while continuing to arm the U.S.’s unabashed warmongering and Israel’s unceasing genocide,” she said.
The coordinated National Day of Action will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the crossroads of Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road, at the City of Maple Ridge sign.