Canada's Explanation After the Vote on L.10

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Canada’s Explanation After the Vote on L.10: Promotion of Multilateralism in the Area of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

Mr. Chairman, I take the floor to explain Canada’s abstention on L.10.

We need and welcome opportunities here to promote multilateralism in disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. We would have been pleased to have supported this resolution, given its sound objectives and several fine features. We could not do so, however, on account of some specific, problematic elements.

[There can be no informed doubt about Canada’s active commitment to multilateral principles, institutions and approaches in our field. We believe strong, legally binding multilateral treaties, respected and implemented with vigilant conviction, are indispensable to common security.]

As we all agreed last year, multilateralism is a core principle in our work. It is not, though, the core principle, in the language of the resolution - not, as is implied in that text, the only fundamental means. Our shared security system is rather the sum of many parts, involving a variety of multilateral, plurilateral, bilateral and unilateral measures. All these are necessary in effective global arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament;> none alone is sufficient.

Mr. Chairman, we also have problems with the tone of parts of the resolution. Rather than advancing an inclusive vision of multilateralism as the central, coordinating element in our field, it offers an overly rigid, restrictive version that could actually limit the options available to and required by the global community.

Finally, both PP 12 and OP6 are tendentious.

[Concluding, I reiterate Canada’s strong support for multilateral approaches to common security concerns and challenges. We want to protect multilateralism from outright attack and from harmfully rigid, narrow interpretation. That is why we have been unable to support L.10, why we have instead abstained.]

We look forward to working constructively together next year to develop a resolution that can be adopted without a vote.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.