Rob Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable François-Philippe Champagne today reaffirmed Canada’s unwavering support for advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament during the third meeting of foreign ministers of the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament.
Launched by Sweden in June 2019, the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament consists of 16 non-nuclear weapon states and aims to promote concrete actions that would advance nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament ahead of the upcoming Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT.
Canada’s policy on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament is built around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and reinforced by related initiatives. Canada seeks to prevent States from acquiring nuclear weapons, decreasing the number of nuclear weapons worldwide, and eventually irreversibly eliminating them.
Canada strongly advocates for non-proliferation and a step-by-step approach to nuclear disarmament. This approach involves having all states join the NPT, bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force, and negotiating a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT).
June 9, 2020, Canada reaffirmed its support for Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Canada works closely with like-minded States to promote nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group and the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative.
The meeting was co-hosted by Jordan, Germany, and Sweden, bringing together international partners advocating for action-oriented steps on nuclear disarmament. Participants called on all nuclear-weapon states to show leadership in advancing nuclear disarmament and to take meaningful steps to implement all commitments under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“Canada is committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its part in achieving a safer and more peaceful world. Now is the time to make a concerted effort, working with like-minded partners, to advance our shared nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament objectives. We are committed to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.”
– Rob Oliphant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
The NPT, which came into force 50 years ago, is the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.
The NPT is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.