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Conference on Disarmament
Hears Address by Foreign Minister of Canada
14 March 2005
The Conference on Disarmament today heard a statement from the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada who affirmed his country’s
commitment to achieving a balanced programme of work in the Conference
and called on Member States to demonstrate good will towards that
goal.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Pierre Pettigrew, said
despite the paralysis that had afflicted the Conference on Disarmament
over the past eight years, his country was aware that many of the
members of the Conference were constructively engaged in a variety
of disarmament activities, from small arms and light weapons through
to weapons of mass destruction. For real change to occur, countries
must realize that continued blockage of agreement on a Conference
on Disarmament programme of work was more detrimental to security
interests of those counties than it was beneficial, he added.
If the Conference was prevented from taking up the issues of the
negotiation of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT), the consideration
of the state of nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the weaponization
of outer space, which were all issues that the affected global security
environment, then other multilateral avenues for addressing them
should and needed to be explored, the Minister stated.
While noting the upcoming Seventh Review Conference of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York in May this year, the
Canadian Minister said the Review came at a critical juncture for
the Treaty, which had suffered several major shocks to its authority
and integrity in recent years. The Democratic People's Republic
of Korea’s recent assertion that it now possessed nuclear
weapons, together with its reluctance to re-engage in the six party
talks, underlined the grave risk to regional and international peace
and security posed by its nuclear programme. Moreover, Iran’s
extensive past undeclared nuclear activities, together with its
efforts to acquire the full nuclear fuel cycle, had resulted in
deep concerns about its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament and strong suspicions that Iran had nuclear weapons
ambitions.
According to Canada, the strengthening of the Review Conference
in its effectiveness and power would require a balanced outcome
that incorporated tangible progress on the three key elements of
the Treaty: non-proliferation, peaceful use of nuclear energy and
nuclear disarmament. Canada also wanted to reinforce States parties’
collective ownership and accountability for the Treaty and its implementation,
through revised meeting arrangements. The inability of the Conference
on Disarmament to commence its work, Mr. Pettigrew added, had a
direct and significant impact on the NPT Review Conference.
Canada was convinced that the development of a negotiating mandate
for the FMCT remained the best basis for initiating negotiations
and Canada was prepared to engage in FMCT negotiations without any
pre-conditions. Concerning nuclear disarmament, Canada would have
preferred to see a more ambitious mandate that would consider specific
measures and new instruments. On prevention of an arms race in outer
space, Canada had long been associated with those believing that
an international agreement banning the deployment of weapons in
outer space was an increasingly necessary goal and could be a practical
exercise in preventive diplomacy.
While recalling that his country had sponsored two symposiums on
space security in Geneva, Mr. Pettigrew announced that Canada would
be sending official speakers to a follow-up symposium to be held
in Geneva on 21 and 22 March with co-sponsorship by China, Russia,
the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and Canada’s
Simon’s Foundation.
When the Conference on Disarmament reconvenes at 10.30 a.m. on
Tuesday, 15 March, it will hear statements from the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs of Peru, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine,
and from the Ambassador of Egypt on behalf of the Group of the 21.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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