Madam Speaker, the NDP has long been calling for Canada to sign the Arms Trade Treaty. I must admit that I have a vested interest in this, because I had the honour of participating in the treaty talks nearly 15 years ago. It was extraordinary, because Canada was a leader on the matter. If Canada is truly back on the world stage, we must once again be a leader.
This treaty can tangibly change the lives of millions of people. This treaty would essentially ensure that the arms we sell abroad do not end up in the wrong hands and do not get used to violate international laws or to commit human rights crimes.
Unfortunately, Canada is dragging its feet, and although the new government has said that it would sign the Arms Trade Treaty, I am still concerned in light of how it is dealing with other matters, for example, the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. While the Liberals were in opposition, they demanded that the government release the assessment, which should have been done before the arms sale was authorized, but now that they are in power, they refuse to do so. Transparency should also apply here.
I hope the government members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development will agree with my suggestion to create a subcommittee to look into the whole issue of Canada's weapons exports.
We are the only NATO country that has not signed the Arms Trade Treaty. I know that a lot of the blame lies with the previous government, which did not want to hear of it, but still, we must act immediately.
My main question for the government is the following: What process is in place for signing the treaty? Has the government started working on this? There are so many areas where nothing is being done. Promises were made that things would be done in the first 90 days, and there is still nothing after more than 100 days. What is the process and when can we expect the government to finally sign the treaty?
As I was saying, the New Democrats have been asking for a long time for Canada to accede to this treaty. The ATT is a very important treaty that could change things for millions of people in the world by avoiding sending arms abroad that will be used to commit human rights violations or international violations. However, it seems to be slow, and we are seeing a lack of transparency, for example, with respect to the Saudi arms deal where we do not have the assessment yet.
My question for the government is this. What is the process? Has the government started working on that seriously? When can we expect to see Canada finally accede to the treaty?