Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition in which a great many Canadians express their concern that the Government of Canada might be asked to support the U.S. national missile defense program to be operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The petitioners are concerned that NMD, as it is known, is a unilateral initiative of the United States and that it would be a step toward the deployment of weapons in space and lead to a new arms race.
They are also concerned that the NMD would violate the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty and run counter to Canada's commitment as a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty to promote complete nuclear disarmament.
With all these things in mind, they ask and call upon parliament to declare that Canada objects to the national missile defense program of the United States and call upon parliament to play a leadership role in banning nuclear weapons and missile flight tests.