With no more to donate, Canada goes weapon shopping for Ukraine

The federal government is looking to the private sector to provide weapons to send to Ukraine, and is preparing a new round of sanctions targeting Russia, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday.

Joly’s comments to French-language news network LCN follow comments made by Defense Minister Anita Anand last week that Canada had “exhausted inventory” from the Canadian Armed Forces.

When asked on LCN if Canada could send more weapons to Ukraine, Joly responded: “Yes, certainly, and working with the private sector too, because we know there are Canadian businesses that can participate in the effort.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canada has sent millions’ of dollars worth of lethal and non-lethal aid, including anti-tank weapons, grenades, firearms and ammunition.

Anand told CBC’s Power&Politics last week that she had held meetings with other allies to discuss sending more weapons to Ukraine while in Brussels attending a NATO defense ministers meeting to discuss the conflict.

“I believe that we have exhausted inventory from the Canadian Armed Forces to the extent that we are able to provide weapons,” she said.

“We are looking at a number of additional options. We need to make sure we do retain capacity here for the Canadian Armed Forces should the need arise, and that’s the balancing act that we’re currently undertaking.”

Anand said she will also be providing options to cabinet ahead of the federal budget this spring that could see an increase in Canada’s defense spending.

It may be worth considering whether to “oversupply” the military to respond with more aid faster in future conflicts, said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

“One thing to keep in mind is we equip our military to have our military be equipped, not to have our military be a potential weapons depot and source of any number of pieces of equipment and munitions for other forces,” Perry said.

Canada’s supply of weapons is different than some larger militaries, like in the US, which resupply their stock on a much more regular basis and have caches of weapons pre-positioned around the world, Perry said.

“We make major arms purchases every one and a half generations, if we’re lucky,” he said. “The US has a lot more flexibility because they’re always buying arms.”

The Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation that helps Canadian exporters secure contracts from foreign governments, said in a statement Monday it is working “to provide timely and effective sourcing of military equipment for the Ukrainian government.”

The corporation said it was working with Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defense (DND), deferring to them when contacted Monday for details.

The corporation did not specify which suppliers it was in contact with, and whether the equipment would be lethal, non-lethal or both, other than to say it was “defensive” military equipment.

DND said it is working with the corporation to secure cameras for drones, in line with a $50 million announcement made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this month in Europe to send specialized equipment to Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters after delivering a speech at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Joly said more sanctions will come this week targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, his close circle and Russian oligarchs.

“We need to make sure Ukrainians win this war. Vladimir Putin cannot prevail,” she said. “This is a question that is existential to the West and the world’s stability.”

Canada has faced repeated calls along with other nations from NATO leadership to increase its defense spending.

The topic will undoubtedly be discussed again Thursday at an extraordinary NATO summit of heads of state and government which Trudeau will be attending.

Trudeau’s office announced Monday he will also address the European Parliament on Wednesday, and attend the G7 heads of state and government meeting on Thursday as well as the NATO summit.