Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt to speak on Bill C-87, the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act.
The chemical weapons convention is an extremely important treaty for the international community and has special significance for Canadians. It was just over 80 years ago in April 1915 that Canadians were one of the first victims to experience the gas of the Ypres salient. It was only three years ago that allied soldiers in the Persian Gulf had to face the threat of Iraq using chemical weapons in defiance of the international community.
Ever since chemical weapons were used on that fateful day in 1915 the international community has tried to come up with an effective treaty to contain and eliminate the use and stockpiling of these weapons of mass destruction.
The first attempt to control chemical weapons was the Geneva protocol of 1925. Sadly the Geneva protocol was as fatally flawed as the many nuclear weapons treaties of the 1970s and 1980s.
It was an agreement to ban the first use of chemical weapons only. It failed to limit or control the manufacturing of these weapons and many nations felt obliged to manufacture and stockpile chemical weapons for retaliatory purposes if attacked first.
The quest to ban chemical weapons outright continued and I am proud to say that Canada played a major role in the negotiations that resulted in the chemical weapons convention, the first multilateral weapons treaty to ban a whole category of weapons of mass destruction.
This treaty could not have come at a better time. As I mentioned earlier, at least one state has used or threatened to use chemical weapons on its neighbours and on its own people. In Japan a religious cult is currently under investigation for its role in placing deadly chemical agents in the Tokyo subway system killing scores of innocent civilians. This treaty I believe is a significant step forward in reducing such threats to the international community.
Since the chemical weapons convention was open for signature in Paris in 1993 it has been signed by almost 160 countries and will be ratified after 65 nations enact it. Canada will be one of the first.
This is significant in itself. However what really makes the chemical weapons convention a major success is the substance in the treaty. The convention obliges all states parties that manufacture and stockpile chemical weapons to destroy all stocks and manufacturing facilities within a set timeframe. This is accomplished under the close scrutiny of international inspections, effectively banning the future development and stockpiling of these weapons. The system of verification and inspection is the most rigorous to ever be imposed in a multilateral agreement.
Of major significance is the safeguard this convention has against the clandestine manufacturing and stockpiling of chemical weapons through international monitoring and inspection of all such facilities that could be used for that purpose.
The convention does not stop there. It also extends international monitoring into the global civilian chemical industry. To facilitate the international monitoring of civilian chemical industries, three schedules of toxic chemicals which have been used as chemical weapons or are known as chemical weapons precursors have been drawn up.
Schedule 1 chemicals are known as chemical weapons. These include chemicals such as sarin, which was used by terrorists in Japan, and mustard gas which Canadians faced in the trenches in World War I. These are not widely available in Canada aside from applications in some research facilities. Under Bill C-87 these research facilities will be required to obtain a licence and undergo two annual inspections.
Schedule 2 chemicals are more widely available in Canada. Many chemicals in this schedule have numerous commercial applications but can be directly used to produce chemical weapons. Manufacturers of Schedule 2 items will have to undergo two annual inspections if their production exceeds a listed threshold.
Chemicals listed on these two schedules will be banned for export to nations not party to this convention.
Finally schedule 3 chemicals are widely manufactured and used in Canada. These chemicals could be used as chemical weapons if present in large enough quantities. Companies manufacturing these chemicals will be eligible for occasional inspections.
Industries that work with the chemicals outlined in the three schedules will have to report on their own activities to their governments which will in turn disclose this information to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. A group of international inspectors will have the authority to inspect any facility it deems necessary. In addition to the scheduled chemicals, the convention also provides for an overview of facilities which produce discrete organic chemicals that could be adapted to produce chemical weapons.
These producers of pesticides, fertilizers, paints, textiles and lubricants will be subject to report on their production activities and will be required to allow random inspections of their facilities.
This convention will also ensure that all states parties will abide by the convention.
A provision in the convention allows any states party to have the right to demand a challenge inspection or no right of refusal inspections of the facility it believes is not acting in accordance with the convention. In addition, states not signing the convention will find themselves affected. States parties will have restrictions on the export and import of scheduled chemicals with states not party to the convention.
While the substance of this convention is important and I hope it will assist in making the international community a safer place, I have two concerns I would like to raise for members' consideration.
First the convention is going to be expensive to implement. It can cost up to 10 times as much to destroy chemical weapons and their manufacturing facilities as it did to initially manufacture them.
While the cost in this regard to Canada will be minimal due to the fact that we do not stockpile or have manufacturing facilities for schedule 1 chemicals, less developed nations are going to have difficulty destroying their arsenals. Take Russia, for example. Russia has 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of chemical weapons to destroy. This will cost billions of dollars that Russia does not have. International inspectors will have to be diligent to ensure that states like Russia are not taking shortcuts to dispose of their arsenals.
At the same time, Canada must take care not to be dragged into paying other nations' destruction expenses given our own financial circumstances.
Second the international community, Canada included, must not be under any illusion that this convention will result in the absolute elimination of the threat of chemical warfare. While important, this convention is only one step in that process. Its true success is to reduce the threat only. It must be remembered that a number of states will not sign nor adhere to the convention. These states, which will remain unnamed, can still stockpile, produce or obtain, through the black market, weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. In addition, terrorists will still pursue chemical weapons as a means to fulfil their goals.
While the convention may assist the international community in preventing these states or terrorists groups from acquiring these weapons, it does not guarantee that they will succeed. It must also be remembered that states that will destroy their stockpiles also have the knowledge to produce these deadly agents again if that international community changes.
I would like to conclude by stating that this convention, while a contribution to international security, does not mean that we should lower our defences. Canada must remain vigilant in maintaining a strong and well armed military capability of engaging in combat in a variety of theatres, including the chemical weapons theatre.
We must recognize that rogue states and terrorists will try to obtain or produce these chemical weapons. We must keep a watchful eye on those intent on this destruction.
The Reform Party therefore supports the intent and the spirit of Bill C-67.