(Corporations in educational institutions)
No one mentions Lockheed Martin’s “products”: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cluster munitions, land mines, weapons with DU, nuclear weapons, surveillance from the skies. (DU = Depleted Uranium and there is nothing “depleted” about it at all, as explained in earlier emails.)
“. . . Lockheed Martin believes in contributing to education and providing training opportunities for AME students to gain first-hand knowledge of support and maintenance for Lockheed Martin products . .”
The information below is further to Lockheed Martin’s arrival in Saskatchewan first disclosed in April 2010, discussed in two postings:
2010-04-11: Lockheed Martin setting up near Saskatoon at Whitecap. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (unmanned drones).
2010-06-26: Aerospace Giant Lockheed Martin Donating $3.5 Million Training Package to the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) in Saskatoon
(UPDATE: and then they moved into the University: 2012-04-17 Lockheed Martin at U of S. “Collaboration Topics“. )
The November 1, 2010 announcement below indicates that it is not only Lockheed Martin from the American military-industrial complex that we are welcoming and subsidizing. It also shows how the cancerous tentacles creep and draw in unsuspecting “partners” slowly corrupting and consuming with its monetary power (more subtle forms of bribery than the direct ones that Lockheed Martin has been convicted and fined millions of dollars for). And by the way, Lockheed Martin now has more lobbyists in Ottawa than the oil and gas industry (as told to me by Tamara Lorincz).
I have explained “offset agreements” in the past – they should be considered when you read this latest development. Through over-priced Government contracts money is moved from the public purse to Lockheed Martin (Lockheed Martin has a lengthy record of convictions for “procurement fraud”). Lockheed then gifts that money to educational institutions – Dalhousie University (see ) and now SIIT. Public celebration of the generosity would have us bow down before our wonderful benefactor. Lockheed Martin becomes the curriculum / propaganda-not-education Manager for its “products”.
It’s OUR money, but the Corporation gets the credit AND controls how the money will be allocated – – which is most surely not to serve the public interest. The Government has, over the course of decades, slowly diminished the amount of funding for education which opens the door for the corporate take-over of our knowledge base, science included. It’s a give-away of very valuable public assets. We end up with badly-corrupted education and science – – deadly for democracy.
Not only is there no mention of Lockheed Martin’s “products”. There is no mention of the PUBLIC DEBT that comes with Lockheed Martin. The U.S. has “first strike” policy. Lockheed Martin played a large role in the decision of the U.S. to launch an illegal – costly – war of aggression on Iraq, a war of horrible death and misery for the people of Iraq that sinks the U.S. further into financial AND human debt bringing instability to the entire world economy, not to mention what it’s doing to their own people.
With Lockheed Martin that’s what you get. And it is CLEAR that that is where the Government of Canada is now taking us. We have the largest deficit in Canadian history and are on the eve of spending $16 billion on F-35 fighter jets – – more money for Lockheed Martin. It is a terrible misappropriation of resources, based on an obsolete understanding of how the world works. But based on a sound understanding of how to funnel more public money uphill into the hands of the very wealthy who are all invested in Lockheed Martin stocks because war is a very profitable racket. We have circulated advice on where to invest your money from financial publications: it’s Lockheed Martin folks! But read on – – the announcement . . .
http://www.siit.sk.ca/news_events/2010/november/01/salc-grand-opening-media-release
SALC Grand Opening Media Release
November 01, 2010
Saskatchewan Aviation Learning Centre (SALC) Grand Opening
On Friday, October 29, 2010 please join SIIT and their partners in the official Grand Opening of the SALC. The event is taking place at #19- 2725 Koyl Avenue in Saskatoon at 10:30 am.
The Saskatchewan Aviation Learning Centre is a partnership of the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), the Government of Canada (Western Economic Diversification and Industry Canada), the Province of Saskatchewan, and the Saskatoon Airport Authority. The new 25,000 sq.ft facility houses SIIT’s Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Program and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology’s (SIAST) Commercial Pilot Program. SIIT secured investments from aerospace and defence companies Boeing, Rockwell Collins, and Lockheed Martin under Canada’s Industrial and Regional Benefits policy to support development of its aviation trades training programs.
“SIIT is very excited to announce the grand opening of the Saskatchewan Aviation Learning Centre. We are pleased to see all the hard work and effort pay off. All of the students are impressed with the new surroundings. This is the first training program and facility of its kind in Saskatchewan. We have great partners and friends to thank and share in the success,” said President and CEO Randell Morris of Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies.
“The provincial government is proud to work with SIIT, the federal government and the aviation industry partners to bring aircraft maintenance engineering training to First Nations learners and others right here in Saskatchewan,” Minster of Advanced Education Employment and Immigration Rob Norris said. “This program will help meet the strong labour market demand for aviation maintenance training and, given the partnership between SIAST and SIIT, keeps our learners and employees in Saskatchewan.”
“These investments are further examples of our Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy at work,” said the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. “Through the application of the IRB Policy, the Government is supporting aviation education and helping train pilots for the future.”
“Our Government was proud to have invested in the construction of the new Saskatchewan Aviation Learning Centre,” said MP Rob Clarke. “The Centre will create skilled jobs right here in our community, while positioning Saskatoon as an aviation leader.”
“Lockheed Martin is proud to support a program such as the Aerospace Maintenance Engineering training program, one that will support the growing needs of the local and national aerospace industries for AME technicians,” said Steven Wylong, Director of Industrial Participation, Lockheed Martin Maritime Missions Systems and Sensors. “Lockheed Martin believes in contributing to education and providing training opportunities for AME students to gain first-hand knowledge of support and maintenance for Lockheed Martin products.”
“Through the Aircraft Maintenance Engineer program and earlier investments Boeing made to help establish an SIIT computer lab, First Nations youth are gaining the required knowledge necessary to enter the aviation trades workforce,” said Gwen Kopsie, Director of International Strategic Partnerships for Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “Boeing continues to build on its 90-year partnership with Canada through Industrial & Regional Benefits programs that benefit Canadian workers, Canadian industry, as well as Universities and Post Secondary Institutions such as SIIT.”
“Rockwell Collins is pleased to contribute and support SIIT’s new Learning Centre that will provide educational opportunities for aerospace maintenance engineers – which are in great demand,” says LeAnn Ridgeway, Rockwell Collins Vice President and Managing Director for the Americas. “We welcome the opportunity to participate in this important initiative that will result in many more qualified engineers in Canada and ultimately will enhance the safety of aircraft throughout the industry.”
Janet Kiem, President of Saskatchewan Aviation Council says “this building, together with the AME and Commercial Pilot Program, is our legacy to Saskatchewan aviation and a very significant achievement in Canadian aviation training. Everyone involved takes great pride in a job well done.
“The Saskatchewan Aviation Learning Centre is an outstanding example of the role the Saskatoon Airport Authority plays as an economic facilitator in our community,” comments Nancy Hopkins, Chairperson for the Saskatoon Airport Authority Board of Directors. “We are very pleased to be involved with such a worthwhile project and are confident it will be a significant contributor to the development and training of a workforce that will support the aviation industry of this province for many years to come.”
“Accommodations in SIIT’s new aviation centre offers SIAST’s Commercial Pilot students a number of benefits, not the least of which is being at the centre of aviation in Saskatoon,” says Dr. Robert (Bob) G. McCulloch, president and CEO of SIAST. “We appreciate the opportunity offered to us by SIIT. It gives our students greater exposure to industry, and it lets them learn alongside other students destined for careers in the aviation field.”
Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) has been in operation since 1976, offering training and education programs to youth and adults in Saskatchewan. On July 1, 2000, provincial legislation in the Province of Saskatchewan recognized SIIT as a post-secondary institution by way of the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies Act. The SIIT Act has given the institution recognition from both the Indian and non- Indian communities.
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For more information please contact:
Robert Daniels, Director of Marketing and Communications
Direct: (306) 477-9336
Cellular: (306) 370-8198
Fax: (306) 373-4977