Report: Canadian arms exports triple

OTTAWA, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Canada's military exports have more than tripled to $3.6 billion, with the United States the biggest buyer of Canadian arms, a broadcast report said Monday.

The seven-year surge in exports has made Canada the world's sixth-biggest supplier of military goods, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The CBC said it reached its conclusions after analyzing customs information about exports specifically used for military purposes -- such as tanks, rocket launchers and munitions.

The Canadian government has not reported on arms exports for four years -- a silence the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade blamed on "technical glitches" in a new online export reporting system, the CBC said.

But arms control watchdog and peace group Project Ploughshares said the lack of information reflected a Ottawa's growing lack of transparency.

Senior Program Associate Ken Epps said a recent report by the monitoring group Small Arms Survey of Geneva, Switzerland, dropped Canada's transparency rating on arms control to just above that of Iran.

"Canada's rating is 11 on the scale out of 20 this year and the rating for Iran is 10.5," Epps told the CBC. "What does that say to you?"