Foreign Affairs committee  I think this could be a lengthy discussion. There are many elements, but certainly one element is that arms control negotiations generally have always been difficult for states, because they are so basic to states' interests. So anything that's being introduced, particularly from

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly within the program of action on small arms and light weapons in particular there is attention to the issue of stockpiling and the need to ensure that stockpiles are well regulated and controlled and do not leak into the illicit side of the arms trade. What I don't think

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned, those were assembled with the help of international legal experts who drew on existing international law. A basic point that we are making about those principles and the arms trade treaty more broadly is that we're essentially calling for states to follow existi

Foreign Affairs committee  We have made representations. In particular, we have had many of our own members and other Canadians from across the country send in an e-mail petition calling on the Canadian government to adopt the two-track process that I mentioned earlier. At last count, I think over 3,000 C

Foreign Affairs committee  In your information, I think there is a list of the global principles we are talking about.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the committee for inviting us to speak here this afternoon. Project Ploughshares is an ecumenical peace centre of the Canadian Council of Churches, based in Waterloo. We have advocated and worked to advance stricter controls on the internat