People attend the CANSEC trade show, billed as North America’s largest multi-service defence event, in Ottawa in 2023. Roughly half of Canada’s defence exports go to the U.S.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Lloyd Axworthy is a former Canadian foreign minister and chair emeritus of the World Refugee and Migration Council. Allan Rock is a former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada and Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.

Canadians take pride in our country’s role as a principled voice for international law, arms control and responsible multilateralism. In 2019, when Canada acceded to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), there was strong public support for our government’s pledge that Canadian arms exports would never contribute to human-rights abuses.

Most of Canada’s defence exports around the world, including to the U.S., are comprised of parts and components that are not commonly found to be used in abusive or controversial ways. Generally, importers have to provide information on end-use which includes what the technology is used for, and who the technology would be used by (e.g. the U.S. Coast Guard, ICE, etc.)

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But Canada’s current arms-export system contains a loophole so large that it undermines the very values we claim to uphold. This gap allows weapons, components and technologies made in Canada........

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