Foreign Affairs committee  Good morning. My name is Richard Arbeiter. I am the director general of the international security policy bureau at Global Affairs Canada. It is my pleasure to speak to you today. My colleague, Wendy Gilmour, will speak shortly to the details of Bill C-47, which would make amen

Foreign Affairs committee  I can understand how references to an arms trade treaty might illicit some concerns among constituents across the country, and particularly those who have a long tradition and history of gun ownership for recreational and other purposes. As I said in my opening statement, there

Foreign Affairs committee  Once again, others can chime in. There are no changes to the record-keeping aspect here. As I noted also in my opening statement, we have been submitting reports to UNCAR since 1993. That is 25 years. The text of the Arms Trade Treaty actually stipulates explicitly that the same

Foreign Affairs committee  International conventions like the Ottawa convention and the ATT are intended to create an international standard and are intended for all states parties to try to come up to that standard. We view the Ottawa convention not only as a Canadian success but certainly as an internati

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure. I can start on that, and others can come in as well. Fundamentally, the ATT is seeking to establish common standards that reduce the illicit trade in arms. Terrorist organizations and groups do seek to acquire arms, including the arms that are included in the treaty. The

Foreign Affairs committee  First, thank you for the question. Second, I don't think that's a question for department officials but, rather, for committee members. Our role isn't really to comment on the development of the bill.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll answer that first, before turning the floor over to my colleague. Earlier, someone asked whether industry had been consulted. I would just like to point out that we also consulted very closely with members of civil society, including most of the stakeholders who contributed

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll just again reiterate what was articulated in my opening statement with regard to article 12. Article 12 requires a state party to have a national domestic record-keeping system in place. There is no requirement to share these records with the ATT secretariat or with other st

Foreign Affairs committee  I think you're right. There are two parts of it. There's the standard bearing role, encouraging others through modelling good behaviour, and then there's the tangible support. I referred in my remarks to a financial contribution that we've made to an organization that has been wo

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  Can I simply just add to that? The government has consistently made clear it's commitment to working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and is proactively using all of the tools available at its disposal to encourage more positive work on this issue. We're delighted that

Foreign Affairs committee  That is correct.

Foreign Affairs committee  I was just going to say that the key message is that they both have force of law. Your question, I believe, was about downstream efficiencies. As Ms. Gilmour pointed out in her remarks, there are greater efficiencies in regulation than legislation. The answer is yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, there were other elements to it, but I did specify, in my opening remarks and in my response, that the preamble sets the context for the treaty. The ATT doesn't cover domestic gun ownership. It is focused on the export of the weapons included in the treaty.

Foreign Affairs committee  I was not responsible for this issue in 2011.