The Endless War
Your pension fund is invested in the companies that build the weapons. The defense stocks went up. 165 Canadians came home in coffins from Afghanistan. Canada sold $15 billion in armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. Nobody asked you.
The System
How Canada's Military-Industrial Complex Works
Canada spent about $40 billion on defense in 2024 and reported reaching NATO's 2%-of-GDP target for 2025, at more than $63 billion. Advocacy groups estimate the Canada Pension Plan holds on the order of $1 to $1.6 billion in arms and defence-linked companies — though CPP publishes no such total and the figure depends heavily on how you count. Canada exported $15 billion in armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia under a deal signed in 2014. Meanwhile the US — Canada's closest ally and security guarantor — spends about $895 billion a year on defense, more than roughly the next six countries combined. The money flows to contractors, the contractors fund campaigns, the campaigns produce politicians who vote for more money. Canada is embedded in this system.
US defense budget FY2025
Cost of post-9/11 wars
Deaths in post-9/11 wars
The US defense budget for FY2025 is $895 billion. The US spends more on defense than roughly the next six countries combined.
Brown University's Costs of War project: post-9/11 wars cost over $8 trillion and caused an estimated 900,000+ deaths (direct war deaths, including 387,000+ civilians).
The US operates approximately 750 military bases in 80+ countries.
Top 5 defense contractors (Lockheed Martin, RTX/Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics) generated over $200 billion in combined revenue in 2024.
The Promise
Canada's Identity as a Peacekeeper vs. Arms Exporter
They've been warning us for a century. Nye Committee hearings in the 1930s exposed war profiteers. Eisenhower named the military-industrial complex in 1961. Every generation rediscovers the same machine and every generation fails to dismantle it.
1934-1936: Nye Committee investigates WWI profiteering — 'merchants of death.' 93 hearings, 200+ witnesses including J.P. Morgan Jr.
1961: Eisenhower warns: 'We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.'
1964: Gulf of Tonkin incident — later proven to be at minimum exaggerated, at worst fabricated — used to escalate Vietnam. 58,000 Americans died.
2003: Iraq invasion based on WMD claims. No weapons found. Cost: $2+ trillion. Colin Powell's UN presentation cited fabricated intelligence.
2021: US withdraws from Afghanistan after 20 years. Taliban retakes the country in 11 days. $2.3 trillion spent.
The Reality
$15 Billion in Arms Sold to Saudi Arabia While Pensions Fund Weapons Makers
The executives get rich. The soldiers come home broken. The cycle continues because the people who profit are not the people who fight.
Military spending (2025, billions USD)
Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet's total compensation was $22.8 million in 2023. The company's stock returned roughly 940% from 2001 to 2024 — more than 1,800% with dividends reinvested.
US veteran suicide rate: approximately 17 per day (VA data). Over 30,000 post-9/11 veterans have died by suicide — more than the 7,000+ who died in combat.
Canada exported $15 billion in armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia under a 2014 deal — its largest arms export ever. 158 Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan, along with seven civilians, 165 in all. And in 2026 Canada reported hitting the NATO 2%-of-GDP target for the first time, at more than $63 billion.
What Works
Countries That Successfully Divested from the Arms Industry
The question isn't whether defense spending is needed — Arctic sovereignty, NATO obligations, and peacekeeping require military capacity. The question is whether Canada's growing defense budget represents security or whether a significant portion flows to contractors and foreign arms deals with no accountability. Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948 and invested in people. That's not a model for Canada, but the opportunity cost is real.
This isn't an argument for zero defense spending. Arctic sovereignty, NATO obligations, and peacekeeping require military capacity. The question is whether $886 billion — more than the next 10 countries combined — is defense, or whether a significant portion is profit extraction.
Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948. Redirected funds to education and healthcare. Life expectancy: 80 years. Literacy: 98%. Ranks above the US on multiple well-being indices.
The opportunity cost: $8 trillion could have funded universal healthcare for every American for decades, or rebuilt every bridge, road, and water system in the country.
What You Can Do
What You Can Do About Canada's Arms Exports and Defence Spending
The machine runs on ignorance and apathy. The antidote is information. Follow the money. Ask who profits. Demand accountability.
Follow the money. OpenSecrets.org tracks defense contractor campaign contributions. Brown University's Costs of War project (watson.brown.edu/costsofwar) has the definitive accounting. Ask your MP where Canada's defense budget goes and who profits.