Background: In 1989, the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade rallied thousands to Lansdowne Park to protest ARMX, Canada's largest arms bazaar. That year, Ottawa City Council passed a Motion declaring that "city facilities not be leased to ARMX or other such arms exhibitions." As a result, the City of Ottawa has not hosted any such manifestations of the international arms trade for almost 20 years.
In 2008, Ottawa City Staff signed a lease allowing an arms show at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park facility called "Secure Canada 2008." It was cancelled, say its organizers, due to anti-war protests and the federal government's restrictions on participation in controversial events during the October election.
Now, an even bigger arms expo, CANSEC 2009, is scheduled for Ottawa in late May 2009 and City Staff have been negotiating to host it at Lansdowne Park.
We, the undersigned, call on the City of Ottawa to respect the commitment made by City Council in 1989 to ban war-related trade shows from municipal property by stopping "Secure Canada 2008," "CANSEC 2009" and all other such manifestations of the arms trade from taking place at Ottawa City facilities, including Lansdowne Park.