Mr. Speaker, we absolutely agree. We would like to see the complete prohibition and elimination of cluster munitions everywhere in the world, by every country in the world.
The fact is, though, that not every country in the world has at this point signed the convention. One of those countries is the United States, which is a significant ally. Our military is significantly involved with the United States, both in training and in interoperability in important conflicts around the world, such as Afghanistan, for example.
That member's party, along with all the parties in this House, ratified Canada's involvement with the international security forces in Afghanistan. That required our military to be there in harm's way and operate in conjunction with the United States and other countries, such as Poland, for example, which also has cluster munitions. We could not put our military personnel at risk for criminal prosecution or at risk for their own lives by putting them in a situation where they could not participate along with our allies.
What we will do under the convention, as she knows, is to advocate to the United States and every other country in the world that they should join with us in destroying their stockpiles of cluster munitions.
That is not something to be done by our military personnel; that is to be done by our government. Our government will be doing that at the United Nations and other important international forums around the world, as the case and opportunity arises.