Mr. Speaker, let me first say how encouraging it is to see the members of this House, as well as all Canadians, sharing the government's concerns about maintaining the highest standards on issues of peace, security, and human rights around the world.
Regarding Canada's export regime, all applications for permits to export controlled goods or technology are carefully reviewed against the full range of Canada's defence in foreign policy interests. The objective of this review is to ensure that exports from Canada do not cause harm to Canada or to our allies, do not undermine national or international security, do not contribute to regional conflicts or instability, do not contribute to the development of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery, that they are not used to commit violation of human rights, and that they are consistent with economic sanctions.
Our controls are in line with those of our allies and of our partners. However, we have heard the concerns of Canadians and we are fully committed to making Canada's export control regime even stronger.
On June 17, 2016, our government tabled the Arms Trade Treaty in the House of Commons, something that the previous Conservative government failed to do. Canada's accession to the Arms Trade Treaty will further enhance transparency in the export controls process, while not putting Canadian companies at a commercial disadvantage.
Let me remind the member and all Canadians that the Canadian defence industry provides 70,000 Canadian jobs. Canadians rightly deserve and expect a fair and level playing field. However, Canadians also expect us to live up to our commitment to promote responsibility, transparency, and accountability. This is the right thing to do and we will soon be introducing legislation to this regard. When we do introduce the legislation, members of the House, including my colleague opposite, will have an opportunity to study, analyze, and contribute to this discussion.
I look forward to hearing from the member opposite as well as collaborating with her, so Canada can successfully accede to the Arms Trade Treaty.
Furthermore, Canadians will soon see the results of new transparency measures that will be put in place in the form of enhancements to our annual reports to Parliament on the administration of the Export and Import Permits Act and on military exports from Canada. We committed to being more transparent and accountable, and we will deliver.
With respect to the export contract of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, let me remind the House that this contract was signed under the Conservative government in February 201. All three parties, including the NDP, committed during the 2015 election campaign to respect this contract. To quote the leader of the NDP, “You don't cancel a commercial accord retroactively, it's just not done”. Unlike the NDP, we are sticking to our word in honouring the contract, but will also further enhance transparency and accountability in this regard.
Regarding Saudi Arabia's human rights record, are we passive? Absolutely not. Our government takes every opportunity to raise critical issues with senior Saudi officials like humanitarian issues, consular cases, and universal human rights. We have raised these issues directly with the king, the crown prince, the minister of foreign affairs and other ministers of state, and the president of the Saudi human rights commission. We will never shy away from the opportunity to promote human rights both at home and abroad.
I thank my hon. colleague for giving me this opportunity to point out what our government is doing on this important issue.