Ottawa Pushes Military Deal with Kuwait despite UN

STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 9:42PM EST
Last updated Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 9:48PM EST

The Canadian government is busy promoting Canada’s defence industry in Kuwait even as a United Nations report accuses a Saudi-led coalition, which includes Kuwait, of “widespread and systematic” bombing of civilians in Yemen.

Ottawa’s efforts to secure military contracts for Canada’s defence industry are coming under increasing scrutiny as controversy grows over the federal government’s commanding role in a $15-billion sale of weaponized armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, a country notorious for human-rights abuses.

Kuwait is among a group of Arab states conducting air strikes in Yemen and has supported this effort with its air force, which includes fighter jets and KC-130J tanker aircraft that can supply warplanes with fuel while in the air.

Montreal-based CAE recently built a flight simulator for the Kuwait Air Force that trains military pilots on the KC-130J tanker aircraft. It was contracted to supply the simulator to the air force’s Al Mubarak air base near Kuwait International Airport.

Canadian officials paid a visit to the simulator last week, talking up the Canada-Kuwait business deal on the same day the UN report on Yemen air strikes made international headlines.

The delegation included a top executive from the Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa’s defence and security export sales outfit, as well as Martine Moreau, Canada’s ambassador to Kuwait.

“Great visit to @CAE_Defence’s impressive new KC-130J flight sim[ulator] & facility with @CanadaKuwait CDN Ambassador Moreau,” Cameron Mackenzie, vice-president of business development and sales at Canadian Commercial Corp., wrote on Twitter this past Wednesday.

A leaked UN panel report last week attributed 60 per cent, or 2,682, civilian deaths and injuries in the Yemen conflict to air-launched explosive weapons and said the Saudi-led coalition’s actions are a “grave violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution” and violate international law.

Saudis and their Arab allies launched a military intervention in Yemen last year in support of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who was under threat from Houthi forces aligned with Iran.

Kuwait, a Persian Gulf state of 3.4 million, is heavily dependent on oil exports. According to Amnesty International, even peaceful criticism of Islam and the emir, the ruling head of state, remains criminalized. The rights watchdog says human-rights activists and political reformers are among those targeted for arrest, detention and prosecution. Authorities have prosecuted and imprisoned critics who express dissent through social media and they have curtailed the right to public assembly, Amnesty says.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion’s department did not immediately respond when asked Friday to explain why the government is promoting military sales in Kuwait while the Mideast country is part of a Saudi-led coalition that is carrying out air attacks in Yemen.

Targets in Yemen, the UN report found, have included refugee camps; weddings; civilian vehicles, such as buses; homes; medical facilities; schools; mosques; factories and civilian infrastructure.

Canadian military sales to regions such as the Mideast have risen significantly in the past decade as the former Harper government worked to build up this country’s role as an international arms dealer. Pentagon budget cuts drove the Canadian Commercial Corp. to look further abroad for arms buyers. In 2009 it created a new line of business, Global Defence and Security Sales, to seek new customers. This move into “non-traditional defence and security markets will require an increased vigilance for responsible and ethical business conduct,” the agency says in its latest published corporate plan.

Critics say Ottawa’s policing of arms exports is in dire need of an overhaul.

“The credibility of Canadian export controls is severely strained. It is high time the government address persistent, legitimate questions about the process by which military export authorizations are granted,” said Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares, based in Waterloo, Ont.

He said the UN report “left little doubt about the systematic targeting of civilians and the violation of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition that Kuwait is a part of. Canada should proceed with utmost care when pursuing or entering into military exports deals” with these countries.

Mr. Jaramillo said the Canadian government is in a conflict of interest when it comes to military exports. “There is a clear tension in Ottawa between the sometimes conflicting objectives of facilitating trade deals for private Canadian companies and ensuring that Canadian-made goods do not contribute to the violation of human rights or serve to exacerbate conflict situations.”

Asked whether CAE would cease doing business with Kuwait in light of the UN panel report, a CAE spokesman said the company is complying with all Canadian government rules on exports.

Pascale Alpha, director of global communications at CAE, said the simulator deal with Kuwait was arranged through the U.S. military.

“We follow Canada’s export regulations as well as NATO regulations, and the export regulations of the countries we operate in. In this case, our contract was to supply a simulator to the U.S. Navy. Through Foreign Military Sales, the U.S. Navy supplies the aircraft and training equipment to foreign nations, including the Kuwaiti air force,” Mr. Alpha said.

Follow Steven Chase on Twitter: @stevenchase

Canada & the Middle East: Jordan and Lebanon will be Part of ISIS Focus

This news is a few days old, but I had not gotten around to sharing it yet. Enjoy. 

Written by the Canadian Press: 

QUEBEC -- Canada's new role in the fight against the Islamic State will involve ensuring Jordan and Lebanon remain stable, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said Friday after a meeting with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts.

Dion promised that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will soon announce details of Canada's new deployment within the American-led coalition. The Liberals promised during the election campaign to end Canada's role in the bombing mission over Iraq and Syria.

Canada's role won't focus solely on Iraq, said Dion, adding "we will see what to do about Syria."

Dion added that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered suggestions about how Canada "can be more effective" in the coalition, whose members also include Britain, France and Australia."The two other countries we need to help to make sure they are stable, because they are so key for the region and are affected by the civil war in Syria and the situation in Iraq, and I am speaking of Jordan and Lebanon. These considerations will be in our plan."

"The goal of Canada is to redeploy our efforts in a way that is optimal," Dion said.

Trudeau has been panned at home by the Conservatives and other critics for his plan to end Canada's bombing mission, particularly after six Canadians were killed mid-January by a terror group linked to al-Qaida.

Kerry said he is "absolutely confident" Trudeau will ensure Canada continues to make a "significant contribution that will make a difference."

"While they (Canada) have made a choice with respect to one particular component of that effort (the fight against ISIS), that does not reflect on the overall commitment or capacity to contribute significantly to the road ahead," he said.

Kerry, Dion and Mexico's Claudia Ruiz Massieu also discussed other topics, including the economy, human-trafficking and climate change.

Friday's meeting in Quebec City sets the stage for a summit later this year featuring Trudeau, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The so-called Three Amigos were supposed to meet in Canada last year, but former prime minister Stephen Harper cancelled the summit.

Speaking in Spanish, Dion confirmed to reporters that Canada will eliminate the visa requirement for Mexican citizens imposed by the Conservative government, but gave no timetable.

Kerry noted that every day more than $3.5 billion worth of goods cross between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"We have to continue to do more," he said, "to increase investment, reduce costs for trade, business, travel and make tourism easier without jeopardizing safety."

Dion: Canada Cannot Say 'Yes' to All Coalition Requests visa-vi ISIS

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, January 28, 2016 10:19AM EST
Last Updated Thursday, January 28, 2016 12:18PM EST

OTTAWA -- Canada will have to say no to some of the requests that its allies are making in the fight against Islamic extremists, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said Thursday.

But the minister wouldn't say if some coalition members have asked Canada to keep its fighter jets in Iraq and Syria.

"We cannot say yes to everything," Dion said.

Dion was discussing Canada's future contribution to the mission against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant at a major gathering of foreign affairs experts in Ottawa. He insisted the new Liberal contribution will be meaningful."When our plan will be out, it will not be all what our allies are asking us to do, but it will be pretty close of what they hope from us."

The Liberals plan to withdraw Canada's six CF-18 fighter jets from the US-led bombing coalition, which has sparked criticism from the Opposition Conservatives.

Dion will not say when the government will announce its new plan, but he says there would be no gap in Canada's contribution to the air war in the meantime.

"The plan is not out because the current plan is still there. There is no gap. We are still involved."

He also said he will travel to Rome next week for another major meeting of coalition partners.

Dion played down the fact that Canada was not invited to a recent coalition meeting led by the Americans. He such "ad hoc" meetings occur, but Canada is always fully briefed by the United States.

He said Canada is conducting two to three per cent of the coalition airstrikes and he said it is "doable" for the coalition to replace that contribution.

David Perry, a senior analyst with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said Canadian warplanes may have been flying a relatively low percentage of bombing missions, but the contribution has been more meaningful than statistics would indicate.

"Canada's been flying a lot of the more difficult missions for quite some time and that will end."

Cabinet Close to Decision on Canada's Role in Middle East

By: Mark Kennedy, Ottawa Citizen, 

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Sunday the federal government is close to deciding how Canada will play a role in the mission in the Middle East against the Islamic State Iraq and the Levant.

Sajjan made the comments to reporters as MPs geared up for their return to Parliament on Monday. The governing Liberals promised during the election campaign to bring home the six CF-18 military jets dropping bombs on ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria.

That combat mission, ordered by the previous Conservative government, was scheduled to end in March, but the Liberals have not pulled back the planes yet or even definitely indicated if they will do so before March.

Conservative critics say Canada is losing influence with its western military allies because of its plan to pull out of the combat air sorties; the NDP is critical of the Liberals for delaying their promise.

Sajjan said the government doesn’t want to rush a decision on the complex matter and that he is close to bringing a thorough plan to cabinet to approve.

“I think Canadians deserve to know,” he said of the government’s plan. “But also, Canadians expect us to be very responsible in making sure that we do an absolutely thorough assessment.

“The last thing we want to be doing is making any type of knee-jerk reaction decisions just for the sake of getting an answer out.”

Sajjan said he has been working with Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and other ministers on the plan.

“Because this is not just strictly a military issue. It’s political, it’s development, it’s humanitarian. And that’s why we want to make sure we take the time to have proper consultation.”

“We’re being very responsible. We’re working very closely — from the minister level in discussions all the way through our staff in making sure that we have a good synergy. We’re working out the few details right now and we’ll be taking it to cabinet very shortly.”

Sajjan said an announcement will be made “soon” about the timing of the CF-18 pullout from the region.

He stressed: “The air strikes will be ending. But it will be done in a responsible manner.”

It’s expected the Liberals will increase the number of Canadian troops training local forces in Iraq, possibly keep some surveillance planes in the air, and enhance the country’s humanitarian assistance in the region.

“We want to do a proper assessment. When you send the treasure of Canada — which is our men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces — into harm’s way, we have to be (acting) in a responsible manner.”

He downplayed a meeting in Paris last week in which Canada was not at the table as his counterparts from seven countries discussed the fight against ISIS.

Defence ministers from the United States, France, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain planned the next steps in the war against ISIS.

Some have suggested the alliance is unhappy with Canada’s plan to pull out the CF-18 jets.

But Sajjan said he has had “deep discussions” with his counterparts, has already visited the Middle East twice since becoming minister and will be at a forthcoming meeting of NATO ministers.

mkennedy@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Mark_Kennedy_