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Montreal Action Denounces World’s Number One Arms Producer Lockheed Martin

On Earth Day, April 22, anti-war activists from various organizations held an informational picket in Montreal, at the corner of Berri and de Maisonneuve, to denounce Lockheed Martin, the world’s number one arms producer. Lockheed Martin held its annual general meeting April 21 and the action was part of a week of mobilization, April 21 to 28, to stop Lockheed Martin.

The call for the week of action says in part, “From Ukraine to Yemen, Palestine to Colombia, Somalia to Syria, Afghanistan to West Papua, no one profits more from war and bloodshed than Lockheed Martin.

“In 2020, Lockheed Martin’s revenue from arms sales was U.S.$65 billion. That’s an incredible amount of money based on a horrific amount of damage done to our planet and its peoples.” Lockheed Martin thus makes billions every year from war and war preparations.

The banner prepared for the action was unequivocal: Stop Lockheed Martin, the World’s Leading Arms Producer — No to Fighter Jets. The leaflet distributed to inform passers-by highlights the fact that this company is about to obtain a contract for 88 fighter planes from the Canadian government at a cost of $76 billion over 30 years. In 2022, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has increased the military budget by $8 billion over the next five years, bringing the overall budget to $32.7 billion by 2026/27.

In our name, the Canadian government is using public funds to finance the military industry for wars of imperialist aggression that pose the greatest threat to the natural and social environment. It is diverting public funds away from schools, housing, health care, environmental protection and so many other areas that are vital to society. This must not pass, said the activists.

TML Daily, posted May 5, 2022.

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