Quebeckers Fight U.S.-Backed Expansion of Arms Plant

 

GD-OTS Canada plans to spend $682 million to add 12 buildings to its 150-building campus in Valleyfield.

More than 100 Quebeckers and 23 civil society groups have signed a memo calling on the Quebec government to reject a proposed expansion to a General Dynamics facility southwest of Montreal.

“The expansion of the General Dynamics facility is a moral disaster and Quebeckers say no,” reads the memo, which was submitted to Quebec environmental agency Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).

The plant in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que. is operated by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems – Canada (GD-OTS), a subsidiary of American weapons giant General Dynamics.

The Valleyfield factory produces what the company calls “energetic materials,” which are propellants used in mortars, tank ammunition and heavy artillery.

GD-OTS plans to spend $682 million to add 12 buildings to its 150-building campus in Valleyfield, according to BAPE.

The expansion is entirely funded by the U.S. military, GD-OTS strategic advisor Daniel LePage said at a public hearing on February 17, according to a transcript posted in French and machine translated into English.  

The expansion will allow GD-OTS to increase its capacity to produce M31A2, a propellant used in heavy artillery, from 6 million pounds to 16 million pounds per year, LePage said at the meeting.  (more...)

Quebeckers Fight U.S.-Backed Expansion of Arms Plant