[COAT] Arms Bazaar in Ottawa Citizen, letters-to-editor needed

[coat AT list.openconcept.ca]

Today's Ottawa Citizen has an article on CANSEC, Canada's largest
war-industry trade show. The arms bazaar begins tomorrow. 
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=3095146

The article's very last sentence mentions that "Protesters
plan to hold a rally outside Lansdowne Park's main entrance on the first
day of the trade show." The article doesn't say that our main
June 2 "Rally for Peace," with fabulous
speakers, poetry and music, runs from 5 'til 7 pm.  
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/Rally.htm

The article, which starts on page one of the "City"
section, focuses on the rental agreement between the City of Ottawa and
CANSEC organisers.

Please send a letter to the Ottawa Citizen to express
-- in your own words -- why you oppose CANSEC. 
mailto:letters AT thecitizen.canwest.com?cc=overcoat@rogers.com

The organisation that is planning the campaign against CANSEC --
namely the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) -- receives a brief
mention in article's second- and third-last sentences, which get pushed
from page C1 to C4:
"Richard Sanders, co-ordinator of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms
Trade, called the city's rental income from the CANSEC trade show 'a
pittance' compared to the profits made by defence industries. 'It's also
a pittance compared to the amount of death and devastation caused by the
wars these companies are fuelling,' he charged."

This, I believe, accurately gets to the heart of the matter and expresses
the central reason why peace, human rights and antiwar activists oppose
CANSEC. COAT has been campaigning for decades now against military trade
shows like CANSEC.  Why?  Because these trade shows help to
facilitate the sale of Canadian military hardware that is fueling the
"death and devastation" suffered by millions of innocent
civilian victims of war.  For example, over 1.3 million people have
been killed in the Iraq War alone since 2003.  And, COAT research
details how at least five dozen CANSEC exhibitors have provided essential
components for about 35 major US weapons systems used in that war. 
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/topCANSEC.htm

Anti-war activists who are engaged in the grass-roots struggle
against CANSEC know that this event is not merely problematic because of
its location on Ottawa City property.  Such trade shows should not
be held anywhere. Period.

Oddly, the Ottawa Citizen article gives considerable space on page
C1, including four quotations, to Steve Staples, president of the Rideau
Institute -- an Ottawa think tank that has not participated in public
opposition to CANSEC. The Rideau Institute's website has no references to
CANSEC, let alone to COAT's "Rally for Peace."
(
Google

 search)

One Staples' quote actually puts what many Ottawa Citizen readers
may see as a positive spin on the CANSEC trade show.  He notes that
thanks to the City's rental agreement with CANSEC organisers, "the
city is pocketing more than $100,000" and that, as a result,
"parks and the summer programs for...children [are] paid for by
proceeds from the arms industry."  Many readers, of course,
will see these "proceeds" as a positive financial benefit to
holding this event on City property.  The added spin here is that
the money coming from CANSEC is supposedly going straight into helping
"children," "summer programs" and "parks."
The money goes into the City's general account and is not specifically
targeted to helping "children" or "parks."  Even
if CANSEC money really was helping children, rather than just going into
the City's general "coffers," this surely is a spin that the
war show promoters would want to emphasis, not anti-war
activists.

Staples also takes a position on CANSEC that is opposed to the position
held by activists in the antiwar movement who are actually involved in
COAT's efforts:
"The defence trade show, he [Staples] argued, should be held at the
airport's military hangar rather than on city-owned property in a
residential neighbourhood."

COAT's position on CANSEC is quite different from that taken by Staples
and the Rideau Institute.  COAT's takes a principled stand against
war-industry trade shows like CANSEC 2010. COAT is not campaigning to
have CANSEC removed to some relatively-hidden military location off
municipal property and safely away from public scrutiny and
protest.  Anti-war activists who oppose CANSEC do not want such
events held anywhere!  We are opposed to CANSEC because its helps
facilitate the military-industrial complex, NOT simply because such
activities happen to take place on City property.  There was much
emphasis last year against CANSEC 2009 focused on convincing Ottawa
Council to maintain its 20-year ban on hosting such shows on City
property.  This unique City prohibition resulted from COAT's
campaign to oppose the ARMX trade show in 1989. However, from 1989 to the
present, we never said we wanted these shows moved somewhere else as this
would be a NIMBY response and would undermine the peace movement.

Someone who understands this position is Ottawa Councillor Alex
Cullen.  Although Alex was mentioned in the latter part of the
Citizen article (relegated with COAT to page 4), he was not
quoted.  This is a shame since Alex has been involved in our
principled efforts to oppose CANSEC. Alex -- a strong contender in
Ottawa's Mayoralty race -- has been central to CANSEC opposition and will
emcee COAT's Rally for Peace tomorrow (June 2).

If you are in Ottawa, please join us tomorrow between 5 and 7 pm for our
"Rally for Peace." There are various other activities and
events outside the CANSEC war-industry trade show that we've also helped
facilitate.
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/June2events.htm

If you are not in Ottawa, there are other ways you can participate in
our efforts.  Please support COAT efforts.  Thanks!
http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2010/OpposeCANSEC.htm

cheers
Richard Sanders
Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

=========================================

Defence trade show paid almost $113,000 to rent Lansdowne

Parking expected to put added $20,000 in city coffers

By Andrew Duffy, The Ottawa Citizen, June
1, 2010 
 
The City of Ottawa has collected more than $112,000 in rental fees from a
defence equipment trade show being staged at Lansdowne Park, documents
reveal.

The two-day CANSEC 2010 trade show, which critics call "Canada's
largest weapons bazaar," begins June 2. It is closed to the
public.

A copy of the rental agreement, obtained by the Citizen, shows the city
will provide the major buildings at Lansdowne Park to the Canadian
Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the organization
that stages the trade show, for seven days.

The city has already received $112,780.50 under terms of that rental
agreement.

It stands to make up to $20,000 more in parking fees.

Steve Staples, president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, said the
city should not profit from the arms trade.

"How would people in Ottawa feel if they knew that their parks and
the summer programs for their children were paid for by proceeds from the
arms industry?" Staples said. "I think it draws into question
the decision to allow the show to go ahead when you see the city is
pocketing more than $100,000 from an arms show."

The Rideau Institute is a non-profit research and advocacy group that has
opposed the Afghan war and large-scale defence spending.

Councillor Eli El-Chantiry, however, said there's nothing unethical about
the city taking rent for the CANSEC show.

"These are legitimate businesses," he said, noting many already
pay municipal taxes in Ottawa. "And what's the alternative, give it
to them for free?"

El-Chantiry said that since Ottawa is home to the Department of National
Defence, it has a responsibility to host military trade shows.

Such exhibitions, he said, help ensure that Canadian soldiers have the
equipment they need to fight in places such as Afghanistan and help to
equip the city's emergency responders.

City of Ottawa spokesman Barre Campbell noted that council last year
endorsed CANSEC's move to Lansdowne Park.

In June, council voted not to revive a 20-year ban on arms exhibitions at
municipal facilities and instead passed a motion that recognized the
importance of "national" trade shows in Ottawa's economic
strategy.

Councillor Alex Cullen had petitioned the city to reaffirm a longstanding
ban on arms trade shows on city property. That ban had been in place
since 1989, but city officials last year decided it no longer applied to
Lansdowne Park since ownership of that property had been transferred
several times between local governments.

That legal interpretation opened the door to CANSEC's move to Lansdowne.
The trade show's organizers wanted to use the site while awaiting the
construction of the new, provincially-owned Ottawa Convention
Centre.

The Rideau Institute's Staples said the city has allowed "dollars to
trump values." The defence trade show, he argued, should be held at
the airport's military hangar rather than on city-owned property in a
residential neighbourhood.

"I think the show is becoming a bit of a blight on the city's
reputation," he said.

The CANSEC show includes weapons and weapons systems, but the vast
majority of exhibits feature defence technology, such as battlefield
simulation software, organizers say.

Canada's defence and security industries generate more than $10 billion
in annual sales and employ more than 70,000 Canadians, according to the
association that represents 700 defence contractors.

Ottawa alone is home to 220 defence-related companies that employ an
estimated 10,000 people.

Richard Sanders, co-ordinator of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade,
called the city's rental income from the CANSEC trade show "a
pittance" compared to the profits made by defence industries.
"It's also a pittance compared to the amount of death and
devastation caused by the wars these companies are fuelling," he
charged.

Protesters plan to hold a rally outside Lansdowne Park's main entrance on
the first day of the trade show.