Article content continued

International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne cited Padilla’s comments as the reason the Liberal government launched its review.

But the use of the Bell 412s for military operations shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Canada. The Philippine air force has designated the first batch of Bell 412s as combat utility helicopters and installed door guns on some of the aircraft. It is not clear whether Reeder saw the door guns or mounts for the machine guns when he posed in front of the aircraft for a celebratory photo.

Photo by Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images

A Liberal government source indicated the previous Conservative government had approved the deals.

The Philippine military is keen to boost its capabilities as it fights Communist insurgents and Islamic extremists. Last summer it used its older combat utility helicopters during intense fighting in the city of Marawi, a predominately Muslim city.

Alex Neve, secretary general for Amnesty International Canada, said Thursday that given the serious violations, included torture, committed by government forces during the battle of Marawi, as well as the ongoing war against insurgents, Canada should exercise extreme caution on such an arms deal.

He added, “When the Canadian Commercial Corporation is involved in arms deals of this sort there often seems to be a lack of rigour when it comes to human rights concerns.”

Postmedia asked the Canadian Commercial Corporation about what approvals were received to allow the contract to proceed. It declined comment.

On Thursday, the Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the country’s military won’t use the Bell 412s to attack insurgents but instead to transport troops and supplies and evacuate those soldiers wounded in battle. But he also warned that the Philippines would buy aircraft elsewhere if the Trudeau government cancelled the deal.

• Email: dpugliese@postmedia.com | Twitter: davidpugliese