OTTAWA—Bahrain, Algeria and Iraq, countries with dubious human rights records or a history of violent internal conflict, have recently become new buyers of Canadian-made guns and ammunition, an analysis of federal data shows.

The analysis by The Canadian Press found that Canadian exports to those countries swelled by 100 per cent from 2011 to 2012, the most recent figures publicly available.

During the same time period, exports of Canadian weapons also increased to Pakistan (98 per cent), Mexico (93 per cent) and Egypt (83 per cent), where, respectively, Al Qaeda terrorists, a deadly government war on drug cartels and seismic political upheaval have sparked violence.

Though Canada’s arms trade is legal and regulated, analysts say the increases raise questions about the government’s foreign policy commitment to human rights, and its regulatory regime for arms exports.

“Diversification is a principle of business in this globalized economy. As we see western militaries decrease their defence budgets, military industries will be looking for new markets,” said Walter Dorn, chair of international affairs studies at the Canadian Forces College.

“The danger is that the almighty dollar may become the predominant motivator in trade deals and therefore weapons are more easily shipped.”

The Canadian Press provided a list of questions to the offices of International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, but an emailed reply from Foreign Affairs left many of them unanswered.

Foreign Affairs carefully reviews all export of weapons to ensure they “do not contribute to national or regional conflicts or instability” or “are not used to commit human rights violations,” the statement said.

The analysis examined 10 years of Industry Canada data on a class of exports that is made up of military weapons, guns and ammunition, along with howitzers, mortars, flame throwers, grenades and torpedoes. It does not include vehicles, aircraft and other advanced technology.

Last month Fast announced Canada would be putting economic interests at the centre of foreign policy. The shift to “economic diplomacy” is designed to increase trade and investment in emerging markets.

In 2012, Canadian weapons manufacturers found some new customers, which offset a decline in sales to some major democratic allies.

Canada’s average annual exports in the sector averaged $257 million from 2003 to 2012. It reached $251 million in 2012, an increase of 4 per cent over 2011 figures.

That modest 2012 increase came despite a noticeable decline in exports to traditional allies such as the United Kingdom (down 10 per cent), Italy (37 per cent), Netherlands (40 per cent), Belgium (87 per cent) and Spain (132 per cent).

Canada’s leading customer by a massive margin is the United States, where annual exports have averaged $190 million over the past decade. They peaked at $294.5 million in 2007, when fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan was at its peak.

The numbers in question may be relatively small compared with Canada’s overall arms trade and the massive global industry, but they still raise a “red flag,” Dorn said.

Canada’s sales to Bahrain shot from zero in 2011 to $250,000 in 2012, while Algeria’s skyrocketed from $29 to $242,000 that same year — a period during which both countries suppressed pro-democracy democratic protests.

“It is really strange timing that Canada would be increasing a sale of arms or military equipment, let’s say, at this moment when Bahrain has been involved in violently repressing its own peaceful democracy demonstrators,” said Roland Paris, director of the Centre of International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Dorn said it is fair to ask — but harder to answer — whether weapons from Canada may have found their way into the hands of rights abusers, be they despotic governments, rebels or criminals.

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