With Israel’s first ever weaponized drone strike in the Palestinian West Bank in June 2023 killing 3 Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, and the recent use of armed drone strikes in Jenin, we call for no armed drones in Canada, no armed drones anywhere!Â
The Canadian government is moving quickly to award a contract for remotely piloted armed drones which would be used by the military both for domestic surveillance and in foreign operations.
In 2021, the Canadian BDS Coalition began to call on the Canadian government to stop its procurement process of $5B of armed drones.
BDS Coalition joins 120 organizations calling for two-way arms embargo on Israel
Since that time the Coalition has led the writing of thousands of letters, supported several webinars, and worked with others in this call.
However, the Canadian government is moving quickly to award a contract for remotely piloted armed drones which would be used by the military both for domestic surveillance and in foreign operations.
Thus, the efforts have led to launching of the #NoArmedDrones for Canada campaign.
The initial cost estimate is $5 billion with billions more to operate the drones over their 25-year lifespan.
Now is the time to stop this planned purchase before it happens. The Canadian military does not need armed drones. Rather than making the world safer, these weapons of terror are used in extrajudicial executions, surveillance of targeted populations and other violations of human rights.
Join the campaign to cancel Canada’s planned purchase of its first armed drones.