Madam Chair, in this informal environment, I think I can speak for all my colleagues in saying we feel we are much more in a committee room and sometimes it is quite easy to dispense with the formalities of the House, so I do not mind.
I want to thank the hon. member for raising the question of the Arms Trade Treaty. As the hon. member knows, we made a campaign commitment to join this treaty, and I was very pleased that, at a time when we are working hard to pass a lot of legislation, on April 13 we were able to table legislation for Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty, something previous governments had not done.
The Arms Trade Treaty can set a real global standard for trade in weapons, and can thereby help prevent human rights abuses and protect lives. It is something we are very committed to, and I look forward to working hard with the hon. member on ensuring both swift passage of that legislation and that all of our legislation meets the standards of that important international treaty. We believe in multilateralism.