Thank you, Mr. Chair.
On the one hand we have the government, as expressed by Madam Brown, saying that yes, we decry the use of cluster munitions, as we all do around the table here. But unfortunately it is not willing to reassess the interpretation of article 21 of the convention. Certainly my party has been very clear in taking the position that Canada should clearly state that it will not participate in a particular joint operation with an ally such as the United States that could use cluster munitions in a particular joint operation.
Yes, we will work with our allies, all the time, in lots of other things, but not if they say they could use cluster munitions in a particular operation. I don't believe that kind of caveat is going to harm our relationship with our allies in any way whatsoever. We're much stronger than that in our relationship with the United States, and have proven it over the years. We are a very stalwart and reliable ally. On top of that it would show dramatically that Canada is actively working to rid the world of this indiscriminate and horrible weapon. We all agree on that.
However, I have to say that it's my impression that the current government is unwilling to take that position of international leadership. That unfortunately is the situation. Therefore, it all boils down to the interpretation of article 21 of the convention. In his submission to the committee, Earl Turcotte, who was the Canadian chief negotiator for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, said that Bill C-6's interpretation of article 21, mostly reflected in clause 11 of Bill C-6, is complete and utter nonsense. This is the guy who helped write it for Canada.
In his view, article 21 does not allow Canada to use cluster munitions in joint operations. Again, this is coming from the guy who was part of writing the convention. This is the interpretation we took when we wrote the convention.
I'd like to ask our two witnesses, starting with Monsieur Drolet, what do you think of a country that makes specific commitments when it's negotiating the convention and then reneges on them when it's about to ratify the convention?