Mr. Speaker, I wish to draw the attention of the House to the agreement reached at the international congress on antipersonnel mines in Geneva last week.
Rather than completely prohibit the use of antipersonnel mines, the new protocol proposes that the 57 signatory governments make future mines detectible or self-destructible. These governments will even have nine years to implement it, and no verification process was established.
This absurd agreement completely sidesteps the present situation caused by existing mines.
The Bloc Quebecois would like to express its profound disappointment at this agreement, because, between now and the next review of the agreement, five years from now, 50,000 more people will be killed and another 80,000 will be wounded or mutilated. It is just shameful.