Mr. Speaker, worldwide there are more than 110 million active land mines waiting to explode. These deadly devices claim 10,000 lives every year and more than 16,000 people are injured annually.
Five hundred land mines explode weekly. The vast majority of victims are innocent civilians, often women and children. At the IPU Canada worked to pass a strong resolution to have a total ban on anti-personnel land mines.
I want to congratulate the Minister of Foreign Affairs who has taken a leadership role in convening a conference here and following it up in December.
I wish him the best of success to have a total global ban on anti-personnel land mines.