Mr. Speaker, a recent trip to the Middle East with the foreign affairs minister gave me occasion to see firsthand the devastation caused by the use of anti-personnel land mines, particularly to our peacekeepers and innocent children. Unlike other military weapons, land mines lie in wait buried in the ground for innocent unsuspecting victims, killing and maiming every 22 minutes every day.
The Ottawa round tables are planning the substance for concrete measurable actions to secure limbs, lands and lives. Ottawa is hosting more than 120 countries today ready to sign a treaty banning the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, as well as to destroy existing stockpiles and to demine within 10 years.
All countries will have to co-operate with a compliance regime. The Canadian government and NGO organizations aim for a total ban of these mines. We must mobilize not simply to sign the treaty but to ratify it, to give aid to victims and proceed to demine, stopping these crimes against humanity.