In the middle of a pandemic, Canada is buying armed drones.

By the government's own admission, these drones will be used to surveil domestic protests and bomb targets in the Middle East.

This should concern everyone.

See my latest for @readpassage https://readpassage.com/canada-is-buying-a-fleet-of-armed-drones-we-should-all-be-worried/

How do we know that Canada's drones will be used for these missions?

In its "Letter of Interest" to industry suppliers, the government lays out several scenarios under which they would be used.

These scenarios are extremely detailed, and some are quite disturbing.

In one hypothetical scenario, a Canadian drone bombs a group of three “Fighting Age Males” after the drone crew spots one of them “holding a small radio or cell phone in his hand.”

The use of "Fighting Age Males" is particularly concerning, because it is lifted directly from the American playbook.

As NYT reported in 2012, Obama treated all "military-age males" (any 16+ male who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time) as "combatants."

This is why official civilian casualty counts are so low. But of course, scores of civilians are being killed and terrorized by drones––we just don't know exactly how many.

This lack of accountability is a feature––not a bug––of the system.
https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Stanford-NYU-Living-Under-Drones.pdf

Therefore, the government's mirroring of US drone capabilities, its criteria for establishing “guilt,” and even its combatant labels, should be highly concerning to Canadians.

We shouldn’t tolerate our government waging a drone war on our behalf.

Another government scenario involves Canadian drones being used to surveil domestic protestors at a hypothetical G20 protest in Québec.

According to the scenario, they're on the lookout for "anti-capitalist radicals" (lol) who are planning on disrupting the event.

First, the drone spots a group of drunk teens and helps hand them over to Québec police.

Next, it helps the police intercept some "anti-capitalist radicals" who simply must be stopped before they can “hang a banner concerning global warming.”

In the context of the recent #Wetsuweten protests and rail blockades across Canada, this is extremely concerning.

If law enforcement had drones during those protests, they could have intercepted and/or scared away participants, preventing the protests from taking place at all.

Even more concerning, the government acknowledged that “while [Canadian drones] will not need to routinely carry weapons during operations in Canadian airspace, situations may arise that would require such capabilities.”

Domestically-deployed armed drones should be a nonstarter.

As millions prepare for the CERB to end, Canadians need their collective security guaranteed by continued access to food, income, shelter and health care—not by weapons.

Spending billions of dollars on armed drones is an investment in the wrong kind of security.

Thanks to @DavideMastracci & @readpassage for publishing + thanks @ally_harp for flagging @Justin_Ling's original story.

Any MPs want to take this issue up? @MatthewGreenNDP @theJagmeetSingh @nikiashton @HMcPhersonMP @DonDavies @r_garrison @JackHarrisNDP https://readpassage.com/canada-is-buying-a-fleet-of-armed-drones-we-should-all-be-worried/