OTTAWA – The Liberals say they want to take a hard look at criticism from the opposition over ways to strengthen Canada’s bill to join the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.
The foreign affairs committee, which is studying the bill, has heard complaints that the proposed government legislation is weak and would undermine the UN treaty that is designed to control the flow of small arms and larger military weapons.
Groups such as Amnesty International are telling the government to amend the bill to close a loophole that would allow Canada to sell arms to the United States, with no guarantee they would not then be transferred to countries that abuse human rights, including Saudi Arabia.
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They also say the bill gives too much discretion to the foreign affairs minister to approve arms exports.
Liberal MP Bob Nault, the committee chair, says the government wants to take a closer look at amendments put forward by the NDP to potentially strengthen the bill.
READ MORE: Federal court rejects bid to block Canada’s $15B Saudi Arabia arms deal
The former Conservative government kept Canada out of the UN treaty because it feared it was a back door way to bring back the federal gun registry.
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