Mr. Speaker, congratulations to the Minister of Finance on his budget which underlines Canada's ongoing commitment to the land mine cause.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs in the interest of international social justice and humanity took the lead in having 123 countries sign the treaty banning anti-personnel land mines.
Once again a Liberal minister has made us proud. In yesterday's budget he announced we would provide $100 million over the next five years to help meet the goals of the treaty, one of which has greatly expanded humanitarian assistance for land mine victims to help with their medical care and to help rebuild their lives.
I firmly believe that to sign and ratify this treaty was important but not enough. In order to make it meaningful and not just principles on paper, we had to put our money where our mouth was, and we did.
Canada continues to play a prominent role in promoting and strengthening humanitarian initiatives. I applaud the minister for enabling us to make a difference.