{"id":543197,"date":"2026-03-17T22:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543197\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:13:13","slug":"minister-of-national-defence-visits-armoured-car-maker-in-brampton-slammed-by-anti-war-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543197\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister of National Defence visits armoured car maker in Brampton slammed by anti-war activists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over 300 Senator armoured vehicles made by Brampton-based company Roshel Inc. are part of a $2 billion military aid package to help Ukraine repel invading Russian forces. (Photo: Roshel Inc.)<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s minister of national defence was in Brampton on Tuesday to visit Roshel Inc. \u2013 an armoured vehicle maker that was recently protested by anti-war activists.<\/p>\n<p>Minister National Defence David J. McGuinty was at the Roshel plant and met with CEO Roman Shimonov following an announcement in February that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/hundreds-of-brampton-companys-armoured-vehicles-part-of-2-billion-ukraine-aid-pledge\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">383 Senator armoured vehicles made by Roshel will be part of a $6.5 billion military aid package for Ukraine.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCanada remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity,\u201d McGuinty said in a release. \u201cThe armoured vehicles manufactured by Roshel will enhance the protection and mobility of Ukrainian forces as they conduct critical operations on the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the largest manufacturers of smart armoured vehicles in North America, Roshel has a $65-million manufacturing plant in Brampton and hired more than 250 Ukrainian refugees following Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n<p>The Senator can be mounted with weapons systems including a 7.62 mm machine gun, and can also be equipped with mine-resistant technology that can withstand up to a 6 kg explosive.<\/p>\n<p>Some 2,200 Roshel Senators have been sent in support of Ukraine since 2022, the company says.<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidyard-player-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773785592_326_awZCW3rPmWvxPqZHnBCKLu.jpg\" data-videoid=\"790139\" data-uuid=\"awZCW3rPmWvxPqZHnBCKLu\" data-v=\"4\" data-type=\"inline\" data-muted=\"1\" style=\"width:100%\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1024\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-30-at-1.55.02-PM-1024x513.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>      <\/p>\n<p>But the company has also come under criticism by activist group World Beyond War Canada for its now-halted export of more than 30 armoured vehicles to the Israel Defence Forces, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/no-justification-for-ice-purchase-of-brampton-made-armoured-vehicles-says-anti-war-group\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the sale of 20 Senator vehicles to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)<\/a> amid escalating violence and clashes with the public on American streets.<\/p>\n<p>Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a different stance when the sale was announced, calling the deal between Roshel and ICE \u201cfantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senator vehicles were seen being used by ICE following the death of Alex Pretti, a nurse at a veteran\u2019s hospital who was shot dead by ICE agents in January while trying to provide aid to another protester.<\/p>\n<p>World Beyond War held <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/video-activists-urge-whistleblowers-to-come-forward-at-armoured-vehicle-plant-in-brampton\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a protest outside Roshel last week to connect with workers at shift-change<\/a> while \u201chighlighting Roshel\u2019s complicity\u201d in global conflicts, one attendee told INsauga.com after the demonstration.<\/p>\n<p>The group lamented the failure of Bill C-233 last week (No More Loopholes Act), a bill designed to stop Canada\u2019s \u201congoing arming of genocide and war crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insauga.com\/editorial-guidelines\" class=\"editorial-guidelines-link d-block mb-4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n            INsauga&#8217;s Editorial Standards and Policies        <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last 30 Days: 32,871 Votes<\/p>\n<p>All Time: 1,260,523 Votes<\/p>\n<p>    1664 VOTES<br \/>\n    Are you worried you might lose your job in the next 6-12 months?    <\/p>\n<p>\tWIN A $100 GIFT CARD<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to INsauga\u2019s daily email newsletter for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 300 Senator armoured vehicles made by Brampton-based company Roshel Inc. are part of a $2 billion military&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[51759,49,48],"class_list":["post-543197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brampton","tag-brampton","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}