Ottawa Citizen - letter to the editor

I sent the following letter to the citizen.

Defence trade show ethics

An article in today’s Ottawa Citizen (Mayor called on ethics over show, Jake Rupert, March 31, 2009) addresses the possible conflict of interest resulting from Mayor Larry O’Brien’s support of the CANSEC 2009 defence industry trade show at Lansdowne Park because of his relationship with Calian Technologies Ltd. At the heart of this is the debate regarding the ethics of using City of Ottawa facilities to promote and market defence industry products and capabilities.

I worked in the defence industry sector for most of my career and felt privileged to work on many exciting state-of-the-art project initiatives. The technology is evermore fascinating and one can easily be blinded to the dehumanizing consequences of using sophisticated systems and weaponry in warfare. Over time I have come to realize that the application of war and military solutions to conflicts is, in most cases, no solution at all and that alternative measures involving peacekeeping, development and diplomacy offer preferred paths.

Social changes do not happen overnight however, so for the foreseeable future wars will continue to be fought and military systems and weapons will continue to be needed. Nonetheless steps can be taken to reduce the glorification of war and warlike activities as well as the promotion of defence procurement activities in public arenas.

Whilst trade show access might not be open to the public, there is inevitably a lot of press surrounding these events and contractors advertise their products and capabilities extensively in public. Unlike other types of government procurement, products being acquired for defence/military purposes are not sold to the general public. So why promote them publicly? Defence contractors’ marketing and sales efforts should be directed to government procurement groups outside of the public domain.

Going further, why the need for military air shows and military flying displays, for example the Snowbirds? Attractive as these events might be to the public, they help promote the acceptability of military solutions and the interests of defence industry suppliers. Do defence contractors really require use of such arenas to sell their wares to governments and the military?