Mr. Speaker, since the 122 countries came to Ottawa we have made substantial progress. There are now 133 countries that have signed the treaty and 55 countries have actually ratified it. As the member properly pointed out, it will become international law on March 1.
Many of the countries that have not signed the treaty have actively abided by the treated and are not exporting mines so that the trade in mines has virtually dried up.
The initiative announced by the Prime Minister for major Canadian contributions has meant that in 22 countries Canada is now active in taking mines out of the ground. We have destroyed 11 million mines in stockpiles. But perhaps most important, today the number of casualties in many countries has dropped by 70%—