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“In the 1990s and early millennium years, the Canadian government was reporting more detail in the reports than they have in the last 10 years or so,” Epps said. “If the new government is actually serious about transparency, then there are standards even other states are using that Canada could adhere to.”

The federal government has actually provided very little information about the $15-billion deal to sell armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. The value was only discovered from documents filed in the U.S., while it remains unclear how many LAVs are being sold or what type of human rights assessment was conducted before the deal was finalized.

“That’s one of the cautionary lessons of the Saudi arms deals,” said Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada. “It’s been a real eye-opener for Canadians that we are selling $15 billion in military vehicles to them. The fact the information has come out in such a piecemeal manner — that’s just not acceptable.”

The Liberal government has promised to accede to the UN Arms Trade Treaty, which would create some new reporting requirements for Canada. But Epps said those are minimal, and Canada could — and previously has — done better.

“There’s some very straightforward things that could be done, if nothing else, just to go back to what they once reported,” he said. “They’ve done it once, and there’s no reason why they can’t do it again, that would provide more transparency than what it is now.”