About 10 people attended a protest in Maple Ridge to direct a message to Ottawa about sending arms to the United States.
The group, Friends for Peace Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows, waved posters demanding that the federal government stop sending arms to the United States for use. They stood at the corner of Lougheed Highway and Dewdney Trunk Road from about 4-5:30 p.m. on Feb. 17.
The demonstration was part of a cross-country effort for the National Day of Action, on Tuesday, in support of the No More Loopholes Bill C-233.
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.
The goal of this nation-wide day of demonstration was to inform Canadian voters about the parliamentary loopholes that allows Canadian-made arms and military equipment to be sent, through the U.S. to conflict zones where genocide and human rights violations are occurring, explained von Hollen.
MP Jenny Kwan has tabled a private member’s Bill C-233 to close those loopholes, and von Hollen would like to see Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows MP Marc Dalton vote in favour of the bill.
“Canadians want to be able to stand up for human rights on the world stage, without being complicit to violations occurring through the backdoor of the U.S. We expect our elected leaders to rise to that standard, on our behalf.” von Hollen said.