Statement by MP Jenny Kwan and Alexandre Boulerice on Canadian Arms Fuelling Human Rights Violations in Sudan via UAE
New Democrats are deeply concerned about potential Canadian complicity in the conflict in Sudan via Canadian arms exports to the United Arab Emirates – the same country Prime Minister Carney visited this week to expand trade.
In response to a question from NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Alexandre Boulerice in Parliament on Thursday, Parliamentary Secretary Mona Fortier refused to answer whether the government will end potential Canadian complicity in the horrific war crimes committed by the RSF in Sudan, and suspend Canadian arms exports to the UAE.
The latest CBC investigation revealing Canadian-branded weapons in the hands of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces is nothing short of alarming — and it demands immediate accountability from this Liberal government. For over a year, open-source researchers and humanitarian experts have warned that foreign-supplied arms are fuelling atrocities in Sudan, including ethnic cleansing and the massacre of civilians in El Fasher. Now we learn that rifles bearing the logo of a Canadian company, Sterling Cross Defense Systems, have been verified in at least nine photos and videos of RSF fighters.
Canada has maintained an arms embargo on Sudan since 2004. We are a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty. Yet somehow, weapons produced by a Canadian manufacturer have entered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises — a conflict that has already killed more than 150,000 people and displaced over 12 million. That is a catastrophic failure of oversight.
While the Liberals say Canada has a “robust risk-assessment framework,” the facts tell a different story. Experts say Canada’s export-monitoring system is weak, opaque, and riddled with gaps that allow arms to be diverted through intermediaries such as the United Arab Emirates. Even Global Affairs cannot explain how these rifles reached a sanctioned paramilitary force accused of mass atrocities.
This is unacceptable. The Liberals must immediately launch a full investigation into any potential breaches of Canadian export or brokering laws, strengthen end-use monitoring, and close the loopholes that allow Canadian-made equipment to end up in the hands of human rights abusers.
New Democrats once again call on all parties in the House to support the “No More Loopholes” Bill C-233, introduced by NDP MP Jenny Kwan, that would strengthen monitoring and disclosure standards to prevent Canadian arms from being used in war crimes or harming civilians. Canada cannot claim to champion human rights abroad while failing to prevent our own weapons from fuelling conflict.
