Foreign Affairs committee  Canada is already compliant with the convention. With respect to the specific question, section 11 and section 21 are not separate. They're not exceptions to the convention. They are integral to the convention. I would just say further that these provisions are probably responsible for the breadth of support and adherence that the cluster munitions treaty has internationally, so we're very—

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sure that our NATO colleagues would all evaluate very carefully the nature of their own practices. Within Canada, our armed forces collaborate with a wide variety of NATO partners, including the United States and especially the United States in some instances. For us, during the negotiation of the treaty, article 21 was a very important provision for Canada.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I'm going to have to turn this one to my colleague.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. My colleague has addressed this point already. I'll invite her to elaborate on it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can consult with our colleagues in Public Safety and get back to you.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I'm afraid that the witnesses here are not competent to answer this question, but we'd be happy to look into it. Thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  As I've testified before this committee, ambiguity is always desirable in advance of imposing sanctions, for exactly the reason cited, namely, that you do not wish to give the opportunity to move assets out of the country and, therefore, out of our jurisdiction.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. The part of the bill that would require prior notice would create this problem for us.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. The term we use is “human rights defenders”. We use it explicitly, because it is a broad term. We would not—

Foreign Affairs committee  It would be very challenging to create a list of human rights defenders worldwide, and it would require resources beyond what we currently have. However, the principal concern we have with this proposal is the constraint it would impose on how we support victims.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm going to give two answers to this question. The short answer is that sometimes we just don't know, and we are concerned about the very severe risk that would be borne by victims in this situation. The second answer I would like to give is about our approach to this as consular officials and diplomats.

Foreign Affairs committee  No. Mr. Chair, let me just clarify that. With respect to the Canadian Forces, the Department of National Defence has implemented directives that surpass the obligations of the legislation and the convention. Those directives prohibit the direct use of cluster munitions by the CAF, even when on secondment or exchange with other militaries.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. With respect to the discussion on timelines for how we impose sanctions and the cases that we have to build around each individual person or entity that we include on a list, I can assure you that the process is onerous within the government.

Foreign Affairs committee  Under Canadian law and regulation, the onus is on the government.

Foreign Affairs committee  It is incumbent upon the government to demonstrate that someone has committed the offence that would justify their inclusion on a sanctions list as a means of avoiding frivolous use of this very powerful tool.