Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to begin by acknowledging that I am joining the committee from unceded Algonquin territory in Ottawa, Ontario.

We would like to thank the committee for inviting us, particularly on International Human Rights Day. We wish all of the committee members a happy International Human Rights Day.

Mr. Chair, committee members, as you may know, Canada acceded to the Arms Trade Treaty, or as we will refer to it, the ATT, in September last year, after which it became binding on Canada at international law. It is an important convention that can help prevent the commission of serious international crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is why Amnesty International has campaigned in Canada and around the world to encourage states to adopt domestic laws that fully implement its terms.

Amnesty International is encouraged by this committee's decision to study controls, protocols and policies around the granting and freezing of arms exports. However, we would respectfully remind the committee that these measures are, quite simply, not law. The starting point must be to ensure that Canada's legal framework fully implements all of its international legal obligations under the treaty.

Bill C-47, which amended the Export and Import Permits Act, or as I will refer to it, the EIPA, was introduced to implement the ATT, and it did strengthen Canada's export control regime. However, the legal and regulatory regime that it created failed to fully implement the treaty. Several civil society organizations provided written briefs about these deficiencies to the Senate foreign affairs committee in November 2018, and again when Global Affairs Canada undertook consultations to develop a regulations package to accompany Bill C-47 in April 2019.

Allow me to provide just two examples that were highlighted in those briefs. First, article 6 of the ATT contains an absolute prohibition on certain weapons transfers, such as those that violate UN Security Council arms embargoes or transfers where there is knowledge that the arms would be used to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The absolute prohibition on such exports does not exist in Canadian law.

Second, there are also deficiencies around the U.S. weapons export process. Through the use of a so-called general export permit, almost all U.S. weapons exports are exempted from the review mandated by article 6 and article 7 of the ATT. Such exemptions are not permissible under the treaty.

The consequences of failing to fully incorporate the ATT in Canadian law, as my colleagues will elaborate, is that Canada continues to export weapons where there are significant concerns about the possibility of their use in the commission of serious international crimes.

I'll now turn it over to my colleague, Stacia Loft, to continue our testimony.

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