Statement from the NDP on the day of action to end war in Yemen

On March 26, the Day of Action to End War in Yemen, New Democrats are once again calling on the Liberal government to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

More than seven years into the war, Yemen is still under heavy bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition, with civilians often targeted. Over 10,000 children have been killed since the beginning of the war in Yemen. January 2022 marked the highest number of civilian casualties in one month since the war began.

Delivering aid is a challenge due to ongoing restrictions on movement and attacks on aid workers. Yemen’s economy has collapsed. Millions are facing famine.

Despite the immense suffering in Yemen and ongoing human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, Canada is continuing to export Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to the country, as part of a deal brokered by the Canadian government in 2014. In January 2022 alone, Canada exported over $83 million in LAVs. Canadian companies are also shipping millions of dollars’ worth of drones to Saudi Arabia, a country that executed 81 of its citizens on a single day this month.

Many Canadian labour, arms controls, human rights and international security organizations, as well as former Liberal MPs, have asked Canada to stop exporting arms to Saudi Arabia.

Today, on the Day of Action to End War in Yemen, New Democrats reassert our belief that human rights must trump profit. Further, the Canadian Government has an obligation to protect Canadian workers and as such, should provide compensatory contracts to General Dynamics to ensure the LAVs being produced will be used in non-conflict situations or will supply our Canadian Forces needs first. We stand with the people of Yemen and against Canada’s complicity in this terrible war that has caused enormous suffering.