Keep Canada's Hands Off Cluster Bomb Production!

In previous entries I have mentioned the story of Paul Cottle, an engineer who quit his job at a Canadian engineering firm because of its proposed sale to an American weapons maker. Below I am posting a copy of a letter to Jim Prentice, Canada's Minister of Industry, from Tony Thompson, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I urge you to cut and paste if necessary and send your own copy in by snail, fax, or email. All of the information is below. Please, like him, cc the relevant shadow ministers from the (even more) minority parties. It doesn't matter what country issues your passport: your voice matters!

(By the way, if you think Canadians are getting rowdy, apparently so are Californians ...)

Relevant contact information:

The Hon. Jim Prentice
Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca
Constituency Office
Suite 105
1318 Centre St NE
Calgary, Alberta T2E 2R7
403 216-7777
Fax 403 230-4368

Scott Brison, Liberal Party Industry Critic
Brison.S@parl.gc.ca
360 Main St., Suite 12
Wolfville, NS
B4P 1C4
Tel: (902) 542-4010
Toll Free (NS): 1-888-585-0550
Fax: (902) 542-4184

Paul Crête, Bloc Quebecois Industry Critic
cretep1@parl.gc.ca
5, rue Iberville
Rivière-du-Loup, Québec
G5R 1G5
Téléphone : (418) 868-1280, 1-800-668-1280
Télécopieur : (418) 868-1078

Peggy Nash, NDP Industry Critic
nashp@parl.gc.ca
447 West Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Tel: 613.992.2936
Fax: 613.995.1629

The Hon. Jim Prentice
Minister of Industry
House of Commons.

Dear Mr. Prentice,

This letter is to request that you not give regulatory
approval under the Investment Canada Act for the purchase of the space division of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) by Alliant Tech Systems (ATK). There are two main reasons why this proposed deal should not be approved.

The first is that it violates the Social Responsibility Guidelines for such transactions. ATK contravenes the Ottawa treaty on land-mine production and its operation would be illegal in Canada. The assets of MDA (including Radarsat-2) have been built up with hundreds of millions of dollars of support from Canadian taxpayers. These assets should not be transferred to a company that violates the Ottawa treaty. Nor should such a company be eligible for future subsidies (by way of R&D tax credits) from the Canadian government. Presumably, if the sale does go ahead, some legal separation of its weapons component and its MDA subsidiary would satisfy the letter of the treaty. It would certainly not satisfy its spirit.

Secondly, it is not in Canada's national interest. This sale is likely to result in a significant loss of cutting-edge technical expertise. MDA is Canada's leading space company and has built up groups of experts in several important fields; most notably in robotics (Canadarm) and synthetic aperture radar (Radarsat-2). These groups are employed across the country in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. With the sale it is unlikely that these groups can be held together. Some individuals may be transferred to the parent company and others will not want to work for an arms manufacturer. Those leaving are unlikely to find similar jobs in Canada and will either leave the country or find jobs in other areas. In either case, there will be a major loss
to the country's technical skills. Governments often speak about the need to lessen the dependence of the economy on natural resources and to build up a "knowledge-based" economy. That requires policies that support and foster companies like MDA rather than allowing them to be sold to foreign interests.

I most strongly urge that this sale not be approved.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Thompson
Halifax, NS

Cc. Scott Brison, Liberal Industry critic
Paul Crete, Bloc Quebecois Industry critic
Peggy Nash, NDP Industry critic