Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON-Canada Electronic Newsletter #3

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Canada declares land mines moratorium

Canada has added its name to the growing list of countries which have declared they will no longer produce, export, or use anti-personnel land mines. Foreign Affairs Minister André Ouellet and Defence Minister David Collenette announced the moratorium on January 17, as negotiations towards strengthening the international convention regulating land mines resumed in Geneva.

The announcement of the Canadian moratorium was welcome news for non-governmental organizations such as Mines Action Canada, a coalition which has been pushing for a unilateral ban for the past year. UNA-Canada is an active member of the coalition, and in a letter published in the Globe and Mail on December 14, UNA-Canada National President Michael Oliver made the case for a Canadian ban. Since Canada has not exported mines since 1987, he argued, “why don’t we take the next logical step? Why not legislate a unilateral Canadian ban on the production, export and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines? This would give Canada the moral authority to press other countries to follow suit, and may ultimately lead to real progress towards an international ban.”

Despite the announcement, organizations like Mines Action Canada aren’t about to proclaim victory and close up shop just yet. The Canadian moratorium allows the military to maintain its stockpile of over 50,000 mines, which it says are needed for training purposes. And while Canada has now joined countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria in renouncing the use of mines, and is now among some 22 countries calling for a comprehensive international ban, this issue of a ban is not even on the agenda at ongoing negotiations aimed at strengthening the United Nations convention regulating mines. Instead, the latest round of negotiations, which wrapped up in Geneva on January 19, focussed not on eliminating mines but on making them smarter. Negotiators struggled to reach consensus on technical issues such as requiring that mines contain enough metal to make them easily detectable, and that mines laid outside clearly marked minefields be equipped with self-destruct or self-neutralizing mechanisms. The negotiations, which resume April 22 in Geneva, are also attempting to expand the scope of the convention to include civil conflicts.