(Ottawa – 17 March 2015) Today, Canada ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, totally banning the use of such inhumane weapons. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions as well as assistance with any of those acts, was first signed in December 2008. Canada’s move today means the nation will be fully bound by the provisions of the Convention on 1 September 2015. As a full state party, Canada will join 89 other states in a total ban on cluster munitions, in an attempt to eliminate the dangerous and unacceptable humanitarian harm they cause.
The national legislation used to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Bill C-6, is the result of a two and a half year long legislative process during which the bill received national and international attention. According to Mines Action Canada, the thorough review of the legislation included clarification from the government that Bill C-6 and Canada’s ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the investment in cluster munition production.
Department of Justice officials stated that Canadian investment in cluster munition producers is in fact considered aiding in their production and is illegal – “[i]f there’s investment in Canada in a company offshore that amounts to aiding and abetting, then it will be subject to the Canadian criminal law under the bill.”
– Source, Mines Action Canada
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