Palestine as a Testing Ground, Quebec as a Link

Militarization, Imperialism, and Austerity

Palestine, and Gaza in particular, is today one of the main testing grounds for global military-capitalist imperialism. The repeated offensives against the Palestinian population are not merely part of a colonial project, but are at the heart of a war economy structured by global capitalism.

The genocide still underway in Gaza—despite the so-called “ceasefire” decree that has yet to materialize—serves as a testing ground for weapons, surveillance, control, and algorithmic targeting systems being tested on Palestinian bodies placed outside the legal protection of the imperial order. These technologies are then marketed as “battle-tested” and used to continue the destruction of other peoples around the world.

This model is part of an imperial structure dominated by the United States, the world’s largest arms exporter¹.

Canada, a link in the chain of U.S. imperialism

Canada is not outside this structure. Although it presents itself as a “responsible” and “regulated” player in the arms trade, it is closely integrated into the U.S. military-industrial complex.

No license is required for Canadian exports of military equipment to the United States, as this equipment is subsequently used or re-exported by the U.S. Canada thus serves as a logistical, industrial, and financial link in U.S. military imperialism, while maintaining a political distance that allows it to deny direct responsibility.

A global industry, local roots

Defense industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics² and L3Harris have factories in Quebec and receive public funding through the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. In fact, the Caisse has invested more than $3 billion in the military sector³.

Until very recently, however, these institutions were subject to regulations that limited their ability to invest in the military sector. These restrictions were lifted in the summer of 2025 by the Legault government, which made this sector an economic priority.

Investissement Québec has changed its rules to allow the use of public funds to finance defense contractors. This redefinition of its mission normalizes Quebec’s direct involvement in the war economy under the guise of economic development⁴.

These investments are presented as necessary. However, this justification is based on two contradictions. On the one hand, the United States poses a geopolitical threat to Canadian sovereignty, yet it is the primary beneficiary of our military investments. On the other hand, by supplying weapons to the U.S. market, Quebec is materially contributing to the wars of aggression waged by Washington, including the recent attack on Iran, which is escalating in various parts of the “Middle East.”

From Canada to Gaza… and ICE

Canadian companies are contributing to serious human rights violations, both internationally and within U.S. borders. Since October 2023, Canada has shipped hundreds of shipments of weapons and military equipment to the genocidal entity known as “Israel,” actively participating in the massacre of Palestinians. These shipments were primarily destined for Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, a company with a significant presence in Quebec and Canada⁵.

Héroux-Devtek, based in Longueuil, supplies landing gear for the F-35s used by Israel against Gaza and by the United States in its military operations around the world.

In Ontario, the company Roshel supplies armored vehicles to the U.S. federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for border control operations and the unlawful detention of immigrants.

Militarization and austerity: the same political choice

This militaristic shift is accompanied by a deliberate shift toward austerity. The fall 2025 federal budget increases military spending⁶ to $150 billion by 2035, representing approximately 16% of the budget.

To finance this increase, the government plans to cut social services by 15%. While military spending is skyrocketing, investments in public housing, the fight against food insecurity, and public transportation are declining.

This austerity is a direct consequence of militarization. Every dollar spent on weapons is a dollar taken away from essential needs.

Refusing to be complicit

The ongoing genocide in Palestine, the militarization of U.S. borders, and the erosion of the social safety net in Canada are all part of the same political agenda, one based on security, repression, and war rather than on social justice and solidarity.

Rejecting militarization means refusing to allow our public funds to be used to produce technologies of death and refusing to let Palestine serve as a testing ground for Western imperialism. It also means refusing to accept austerity as an inevitable fate.

Solidarity with Palestine is therefore inseparable from the struggle against austerity, colonialism, and imperialism here and around the world.It is one and the same struggle: the struggle for dignity and justice, against a political economy of war that sacrifices people, here and elsewhere, and survives by sowing death.