Vanguard Magazine

l lanD VEHICLE 14 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com Benefits to the Canadian economy Foreign sales allow Canadian firms to keep their plants operat- ing, workforce employed, supply chains intact and engineers busy researching and developing new technology between episodic Ca- nadian government procurements. This particular deal will keep the thousands of unionized shop-floor workers and engineers at the GDLS-C plant in London, Ontario employed for years. It will also fill the order books for the dozens of other Canadian firms in the industrial cluster around Southwestern Ontario and across the country that form part of their supply chain. In addition, it will allow the company to conduct further research to develop its product. All of this benefits the Canadian economy. Beyond this, Canada will benefit decades from now when the Canadian military next decides to buy new equipment. If export sales permit the company to keep producing Light Armoured Vehicles, Canada will at least have the option of buying highly capable, modern equipment in Canada if it so chooses. Foreign sales such as these allow Canada to retain a strategic industrial capability that can supply the Canadian Armed Forces. Success in winning this type of work is difficult given the highly competitive international marketplace, requiring both good prod- ucts and good reputations as suppliers. For GDLS-C this deal rep- resents the continuation of a relationship dating back to the early 1990s when the Saudis first purchased vehicles from the company. While it was the Harper government that approved the most re- cent deal in 2014, this represented a continuation of several de- cades of Canadian government support for this type of contract. To facilitate these sales, many national governments actively support foreign military sales. In the case of the Saudi deal, it was actually signed by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation that facilitates international trade by Canadian industries with a focus on international governments. By acting as the deal's prime contractor, the Canadian Commercial Corpora- tion has provided the government of Canada's backing of the deal in addition to permitting it in the first place following an export control review. This context is important in lieu of the controversy this deal has generated because of Saudi Arabia's human rights record. The deal is not simply about arming a foreign government or generating profit for large defence company. It promotes domes- tic economic activity, employment and research and development, and helps maintain a strategically important industry that supplies the government of Canada with national assets. These other factors were undoubtedly important in shaping the decisions by the Harper government and other Canadian govern- ments before it to allow the sale of Light Armoured Vehicles to Saudi Arabia. "Without exports, many Canadian defence firms could not stay in business"

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