Foreign Affairs Committee on June 11th, 2012
Evidence of meeting #41 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was treaty.
A recording is available from Parliament.
On the agenda
MPs speaking
Also speaking
- Habib Massoud Deputy Director, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
- Paul Galveias Senior Export Control Officer, Export Controls Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
- Mark Fried Policy Coordinator, Oxfam Canada, and Member, Control Arms Coalition
- Hilary Homes Campaigner, International Justice, Security and Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Member, Control Arms Coalition
- Lina Holguin Policy Director, Oxfam-Québec, and Member, Control Arms Coalition
- Kenneth Epps Senior Program Officer, Project Ploughshares, and Member, Control Arms Coalition
- Steve Torino President, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
- Tony Bernardo Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
- Solomon Friedman Lawyer, As an Individual
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Actually, in terms of meeting with a lot of the foreign affairs ministers, the answer is no.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
We meet regularly with Minister Toews. We both sit on the firearms advisory committee. As Mr. Torino said, both of us have been on many of these committees, going right back into the Liberal tenure, because we're acknowledged experts in this field.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Beauséjour, NB
But you haven't met with a foreign affairs minister or a secretary of state for foreign affairs, or perhaps a parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, with respect to this treaty.
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
We have met with one minister. That was a few years ago now.
I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time remembering the name.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Yes, sir.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Beauséjour, NB
Would it have been since the election of the Harper government in 2006?
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Yes.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Beauséjour, NB
When you go back, would you be able to check your records and get back to the clerk with the name of the minister you met with?
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
Absolutely. I'm just having a momentary memory block.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Canadian Shooting Sports Association
No problem.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Dominic LeBlanc Beauséjour, NB
I'd like to ask a question of perhaps Mr. Epps, Mr. Fried, or peut-être Madame Holguin.
My colleague asked about the
…socio-economic criteria…
which I thought was an interesting perspective.
I think, Madame Holguin, you said in your comments that you would rather have no treaty at all than a weak treaty.
What concerns do you have about this treaty that would make it weak and thereby, in your view, ineffective?
I don't know if it was you or one of your colleagues who mentioned this.
5:10 p.m.
Senior Program Officer, Project Ploughshares, and Member, Control Arms Coalition
I'll respond.
I may also pick up on the earlier reference to consensus as well. Certainly that is one of the issues we're very concerned about, because the rules of procedure are calling for a treaty agreed by consensus. There's great concern that what we will end up with as a result of consensus is a lowest common denominator document that will effectively be meaningless.
If we move towards that end, I think that's when we would say it would be best not to have a treaty than a weak document that would in fact put in place standards that would be much lower than those of many states, such as Canada, and would justify a lot of states continuing with their current operations around transfers.
I hope I've responded to your question.