Mr. Speaker, I shall be sharing my time with the hon. member for Souris—Moose Mountain.
The good people of Surrey Central are very happy to have me speak on their behalf in support of this legislation to implement the convention on the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction.
My constituents and I would like to salute and pay special tribute to my Reform Party colleague, the hon. member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, who not only attended the convention at Oslo, but who has many years experience working as a medical doctor in the mine infested area of Mozambique. In fact, in 1995 and 1996 he was the Reform member of Parliament who introduced a private members' bill calling for an international ban on anti-personnel mines, but the government refused to make the bill votable.
If that bill had been declared votable, the treaty could have been signed much earlier, perhaps over two years earlier, and we could have saved many lives around the world.
On this rare occasion the Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs said he would support the private members' motion. A Liberal minister actually stating his support of an opposition member's private members' bill was important because it boosted the spirit of the activists and non-government organizations who were already concerned and fighting to have these destructive weapons eliminated.
The new Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs also supported the anti-personnel land mines initiative. Canada began pursuing the matter with other countries in the world, hoping to get a consensus on an international ban.
In October 1996 at the International Strategy Conference, Canada challenged the international community to sign a treaty to ban the production, use, stockpile and export of land mines, and so began the Ottawa process.
The international non-government organization community has always argued that a ban on land mines is necessary because the mines actually violate international human rights and international law by killing or maiming over 20,000 civilians per year.
A draft treaty was produced in Oslo, Norway, in September 1997. Included in this treaty was the banning of the use, production, stockpiling and trade of anti-personnel mines, but it also included assistance for de-mining and for the victims. So far over 120 countries have indicated that they will sign the Oslo treaty. Other nations are seriously considering signing the Oslo treaty. Next month there will be a formal signing ceremony in Ottawa.
The treaty is supported by the Canadian Armed Forces. In fact there is ample military evidence to support the ban of anti-personnel mines.
The Oslo treaty is intended to be a collective international disarmament treaty. The bill we are debating today is the product of the Oslo draft treaty. Bill C-22 has many significant humanitarian elements that will not only ban countries from producing land mines but will ban countries from using and trading them.
Canada's exemptions to this treaty will allow us to import, export and possess land mines only for military training, mine clearing and destruction. Peace officers and RCMP officers will also have the authority to possess and transport land mines in the course of their duties to diffuse them.
In the event a country falls under the suspicion of violating the treaty, fact finders will be sent by the international community and will have powers to search and seize with or without a warrant. Private homes can be inspected with a warrant. Warrants are not required to search military bases and/or warehousing facilities.
The bill has 14 sections. I would briefly like to describe a few of the sections which are important.
There are prohibitions as we know. Under the bill it is illegal to place a mine under, on or near the ground or any surface area. It is also illegal to develop, to produce or to stockpile mines directly or indirectly except for training purposes, to dismantle, or for display in museums. It is also illegal to import or export anti-personnel mines.
There is a destruction of mines section. Individuals who are in possession of anti-personnel mines must deliver them to specific locations for immediate destruction with the exception of the military, RCMP or those authorized by the minister to render the mines useless.
There are inspection rules. In the event that a country is accused of violating this treaty, the foreign minister of that country must provide to members of the United Nations fact finding team a certificate that will allow members of the mission to inspect areas where there is suspicion of mines, that is military bases or industrial warehouses. This power is only extended to commercial dwellings. They cannot enter into private dwellings unless the owner allows them.
Finally there is an enforcement section. This allows the opportunity for enforcement officers to determine fines and convictions. Summary convictions range from a fine of $5,000, jail time of up to 18 months, or both. Convictions on indictment range from a fine of $500,000 or imprisonment for a term no longer than five years, or both.
The United States and China have refused to be signatories to this treaty. However they have both implemented many significant aspects of the treaty such as the destruction of their stockpiles of mines. Also they have not exported mines for some years. We hope that in times to come China and the United States will sign the treaty.
The U.S.A. has done more than any other country in terms of committing more money to de-mining. It has made sure that the anti-tank weapons are not anti-personnel any more. It has destroyed a record number of mines already. The U.S. was the first nation to ask the United Nations to call for a ban on anti-personnel mines. The U.S. expects to lead in the role of peacekeeper in many parts of the world and expects to be accommodated, but in Oslo the nations did not agree. We know that last week the U.S. lost a plane and its crew off the coast of Africa while en route to de-mining activities in Africa.
Countries in war zones such as Bosnia, Turkey, middle eastern countries, India and Pakistan have not signed on either. Even though these nations have not become signatories, the fact that a treaty with teeth has been produced is more successful than a treaty that is agreed to by everyone but has enough loopholes to make it worthless.
With respect to the bill in its current form one of the issues that causes concern is the lack of specifics concerning who will be assigned by the minister to be the watch dog over the destruction of any mines and the enforcement of the law within Canada.
Another issue is the request for assistance. A commitment for assistance with no fixed moneys is stated in the treaty. This is assistance that can be given where appropriate and affordable. The government should ensure that whatever aid is given through assistance is done in the most cost effective fashion. This is a serious issue. It is important for the bill to be passed by parliament as soon as possible.
Let us imagine the civilian human aspect for a moment. History shows that mines do not stop armies but stop people's lives completely. In certain villages mines are all around in the fields, meadows and forests. The schools are covered with posters asking kids to think mines. The vocabulary of those school children includes war, mines, danger, fear, kill, blood and similar words. They ask children not to touch the mines because they are toys of war.
They are being told not to look at the beautiful sky or the yellow moon or count stars because in a split second it can become bloody. It takes only one wrong step, so they should lower their heads because their enemy is in the earth.
There is something worse than a war. They have to survive the peace. Families are familiar with crisis and lack of money. Even the children have to work to support the families in those countries. The forgotten mines take away their young dreams in a split second. The war is still in their hearts, souls and memory. There are people out there with one leg of their trousers hanging empty. There is no more hissing sound of shells or sirens but a sudden sound of detonation. Nobody knows how to handle them. To conclude—