Published by Senator Elizabeth Hubley on 06 November 2008
The recent Global Week of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs provides us with an opportunity on Canada's past and future role in eliminating the use of these horrible devices.
Cluster munitions, like land mines, are an especially cruel, inhumane and indiscriminate form of weaponry. In contrast to the "surgical precision" often associated with modern warfare, cluster bombs are designed to inflict maximum damage over a wide area.
Their use kills and maims civilians in much greater numbers than more conventional ordnance. In addition to the immediate devastation they can cause on impact, they leave an ongoing threat to the local population very much like land mines, in the form of unexploded components, or "bomblets".
As with land mines, these unexploded devices exist for decades after the end of the conflict in which they were actually used. Unexploded cluster munitions cause the death and disfigurement of hundreds of civilians annually, many of them children.
Under the previous government, and particularly with the tenure of Lloyd Axworthy as foreign minister, Canada was widely seen as an international leader in the area of disarmament, and in the reduction and elimination of the use of the kinds of munitions that continue to kill long after wars have ended.
One shining example of this was the signing in Ottawa of the Land mines Treaty in 1997. Canada led the way, not only in banning the use of land mines, but also in addressing the legacy of past conflicts with efforts to remove existing land mines. With that historic agreement in place, and implementation well under way, the international community turned its attention to cluster munitions through a forum called the Oslo process.
Unfortunately, with a change in government, Canada has relinquished its leadership in the field of disarmament in the international community. Canada's position in the last two years of the Oslo process has been described as "disappointing" by such prominent figures as Nobel Peace Prize winner and land mines activist Jody Williams.
Other commentators chided Canada for dragging its feet and for supporting loopholes to accommodate countries that oppose a ban. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay, at one point indicated that Canada's preference was to focus on old and inaccurate munitions, while preserving the right of countries to use newer, supposedly more accurate cluster bombs. His successor, Maxime Bernier, took no direct role in the negotiations.
In June of this year, well over 100 countries, including Canada, agreed to a new Convention on Cluster Munitions which will be signed on Dec. 3. But this time, instead of acting as a leader, Canada took the role of reluctant follower, often acting as apologist for countries like the United States, who do not support the Convention. As Canadians, we need to reflect on the work that remains to be done on cluster munitions. It is my hope that a new minister will seize the opportunity to salvage Canada's leadership role, to continue pushing for a wider ban on these inhumane weapons, and to lead international efforts to clean up the deadly legacy they have left behind in countries across the globe.