OTTAWA – The Green Party of Canada calls on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to include gun-control advocates in the Canadian delegation that will take part in the final UN conference on an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in New York from March 18 to 28.
“On the instruction of Harper’s Conservatives, the gun lobby has been embedded in Canadian diplomatic delegations since 2009. On the other hand, peace and justice advocates for control of the global weapons trade have to content themselves with an observer status and watch negotiations from the sidelines,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands.
“I call on the Prime Minister to include Project Ploughshares, Oxfam and Amnesty to the Canadian delegation negotiating the ATT,” said May.
The Green Leader was the first MP to raise the issue during Question Period. “When I raised the treaty issue in QP, I was shocked that Minister Baird managed to work the now cancelled Canadian Long Gun Registry into his reply,” said May.
“This international treaty is too important to be obstructed by Harper’s Conservatives’ fascination with the gun lobby. One person per minute dies as a direct result of armed violence. There is a critical need for a treaty that will finally enforce international regulation of the international trade in conventional weapons,” said May.
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Media Contact:
Stéphane Vigneault
Communications Coordinator, Green Party of Canada
cell: 613.614.4916