Mr. Speaker, we have a different legislative framework in Canada, but our commitment to the prohibition of these terrible weapons of mass destruction is real and strong.
There is one small issue. For example, if a Canadian such as Walt Natynczyk, the former chief of the defence staff, were participating in a foreign mission that somehow might be complicit, or if a Canadian was refuelling a plane in Newfoundland that may or may not contain cluster munitions, for example, from the Obama administration's armed forces, that might be somehow illegal, we wanted to have a small provision, which is allowed for in the convention, to protect members of the Canadian Forces so they would not be brought up for international prosecution.
The bill is fair and reasonable. We listened at committee. I became personally involved. The member for Tobique—Mactaquac, working with some of the opposition members, came forward. He wanted it to be stronger, clearer in language, and the government's response was absolutely. We amended the bill to make it stronger. The member for Tobique—Mactaquac did a tremendous job on this. He made the bill even stronger after listening to witnesses, and we welcomed that.
I worked with the member for Ottawa Centre and the member for Westmount—Ville-Marie, putting politics aside, to make the bill better. It is a good thing when the committee process works that way. The bill should not be simply blocked because it is not absolutely perfect in the eyes of the official opposition.