Toronto rally at Freeland’s office condemns “deadly hypocrisy” in Canada’s role in war in Yemen versus Ukraine

March 27, 2022

Toronto - March 27, 2022:

WHAT: On the seven-year anniversary of the brutal war in Yemen activists will rally at Deputy Prime Minister MP Chrystia Freeland’s office to demand #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and denounce Canada’s deadly hypocrisy in fueling the war with billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia. We refuse to value the lives of some victims of war over others.

#CanadaStopArmingSaudi rallies also taking place across Canada on Saturday (info).

WHERE: Matt Cohen Park, at Bloor and Spadina (725 Spadina Ave). Across the street from the office of MP Chrystia Freeland, the Deputy Prime Minister

WHEN: Sunday March 27, at 2:00PM

VISUALS: 50-foot BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS banner, several smaller banners and signs

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Rachel Small,
Canada Organizer for World BEYOND War,
647-769-2472,
rachel@worldbeyondwar.org

Simon Black, Lead Organizer for Labour Against the Arms Trade,
416-894-1662,
sblack1916@gmail.com

MORE INFO: Follow #CanadaStopArmingSaudi for updates during the rally. Rallies are taking place in six Canadian cities as part of the #CanadaStopArmingSaudi Days of Action: End the War in Yemen on March 26-27. Info on protests in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Hamilton and Waterloo on March 26 are listed here: https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/canadastoparmingsaudi/

BACKGROUND:

March 26 marks seven years of the war in Yemen, which has claimed the lives of almost 400,000 civilians and that Canada has armed by sending over $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began.

This month Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “If you make war on the rules-based international order, we’re going to cut you out of the global economy.” Yet the opposite is true for Saudi Arabia. Canada has continued to do brisk business with the Saudi regime, including exporting billions of dollars’ worth of arms, even as Saudi bombs rain down on Yemeni schools, hospitals, mosques, and markets, killing and wounding civilians in the thousands.

The UN Human Rights Council has twice named Canada as one of the states fueling the war in Yemen by continuing arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since the beginning of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen in 2015, despite the Saudi-led coalition conducting numerous indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes killing thousands of civilians and targeting civilian infrastructure in violation of the laws of war.

On March 26 and 27, members of World BEYOND War, Labour Against the Arms Trade, and allied organizations will be holding days of action to call on the Government of Canada to immediately end arms transfers to Saudi Arabia, massively expand humanitarian assistance for the people of Yemen, and work with trade unions in the arms industry to ensure a just transition for arms industry workers. Details on protests in six cities are listed here: https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/canadastoparmingsaudi/