Minister Dion to mark 20th anniversary of Ottawa Process

October 28, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced he will give remarks at a conference entitled Ottawa Process Twenty Years Later: The Landmine Treaty, Human Security, and Canada in the Twenty-First Century, on October 28, 2016, in Toronto.

Minister Dion will emphasize the importance of states and civil society partnering to find the best way to achieve successful results on disarmament. The conference will discuss the impact of the Ottawa Process, whose goal is to ban landmines, on the elimination of anti-personnel mines around the world, the continuing relevance of the landmine issue, the Ottawa Process’s influence on international relations in the context of human security and the model that made the Ottawa Process successful.

The Minister will also highlight Canada’s current leadership in the field of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Quotes

Quick facts

• The conference is organized by the Canadian Landmine Foundation and the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at Trinity College at the University of Toronto, in cooperation with the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies; the Academic Council on the United Nations System; Mines Action Canada; Handicap International and the Canadian International Council. The Government of Canada also provided some support to the conference.
• Canada initiated the process that led to the negotiation of the Ottawa Convention in 1996 and was the first state to sign and ratify it in December 1997. The treaty officially entered into force in March 1999. To date, there are 162 states parties to the treaty.
• Overall, Canada has contributed $237 million over the last decade to mine action, including $13.7 million from 2015 to 2016. In addition, at the High-Level Panel of Ottawa Convention Pledging Conference, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in March 2016, Minister Dion announced a contribution of $130,000 to the implementation support unit of the convention. 
• Since the last Ottawa Convention Review Conference, which took place in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2014, Canada has been part of a small group of countries promoting active discussion on, and concrete action toward, the Maputo goal of completing time-bound obligations under the treaty by 2025. Canada has also supported mine action in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Vietnam.

Associated links

• Conventional weapons
• Canadian Landmine Foundation
• Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History

Contacts

Chantal Gagnon
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
343-203-1851
chantal.gagnon@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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