This week in Ottawa, a special panel has advised that Canada should use military procurement as a way to grow the economy and create jobs. Basically, Canada should use it’s resources to develop and market weapons, vehicles and other equipment to the rest of the world. One can almost imagine the light bulbs firing brightly above the panel’s collective heads, like a muzzle flash from a high powered assault rifle. Making and selling military equipment is a time honoured way of boosting any nation’s economy.
With North Korea testing nuclear weapons and all the sabre rattling happening in the Middle East, a market is certainly assured. Soon, up-and-coming Canadian arms producers will be glued to the nightly news, hoping for a declaration of war somewhere in the world, followed by a celebratory arm-pumping “yes!”
With Canadian flags discretely emblazoned on barrels, magazines, shell casings or the undercarriages of military vehicles, “Made in Canada” will have a whole new meaning.
Foreign soldiers can light up villages swarming with insurgents, or whatever the “bad guys” are being labelled as at the time, with Canadian developed equipment. Back in Canada we can sit back, enjoy a brew and watch the carnage safely at home on our new big screen TV.
Sarcasm aside, one of the most important virtues Canadians have is pride. Around the world we are recognized as a nation of peace. It is why immigrants choose Canada as their home and in many cases they come here in order to flee from guns, violence and bloodshed, which in many cases have stolen the lives of their loved ones. How sad would it be to have developed and deployed the weapons that were used to kill the relatives of new Canadians?
No matter how one rationalizes its use, a weapon has but one purpose, to kill people. Developing military equipment has but one end, death on a large scale in order to force the political will of a government. We can try to separate the wide grey areas that surround the concept of war, but no matter how careful or how precise your weapon is, in times of war, that weapon will undoubtedly result in collateral damage, and most of the time that usually means an innocent child. Once weapons are sold, there is no guarantee in whose hands they may end up in, they could even be used against our own soldiers.
We live in a violent and sometimes volatile world. It makes sense to equip our own soldiers so they can do their jobs, but anything more than that and we risk soiling our reputation as a peaceful nation.
