MPI Report
Ottawa, Canada
October 30, 2002
A Middle Powers Initiative delegation led by former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell held two days of meetings in Ottawa October 29-30 with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, National Defence Minister John McCallum and their senior officials. The delegation testified before the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, met with NGO leaders, other parliamentarians and held a nationally covered press conference. Commending Canada for its yes vote in the U.N. First Committee on the New Agenda omnibus resolution, "Towards a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World," the MPI delegation urged Canada, as a highly respected middle power, to press the Nuclear Weapons States to bring their nuclear weapons policies into line with the 13 Practical Steps agreed to in 2000 by all parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Noting that all other NATO non-nuclear nations had abstained on the New Agenda resolution, the delegation suggested that Canada play a "bridging" role between the New Agenda and NATO; in turn, the Department of Foreign Affairs said MPI could help Canada by using its contacts and influence on NATO states to encourage them to also support the New Agenda. It was stated that Canada wants its NATO partners to join the majority of nations pressing for policies coherent with the NPT.
The focus of the delegation's presentation was the MPI Briefing Paper, "Priorities for Preserving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the New Strategic Context," with its six recommendations: 1) Strategic arms reductions; 2) Control of missile defences and non-proliferation of missiles; 3) Tactical arms reductions; 4) Non-use of nuclear weapons; 5) Ban on nuclear testing; 6) Control of fissile materials.
The Prime Minister was very encouraging of MPI's advocacy and effectiveness. MPI met informally over a dinner with 18 Senators and Members of Parliament co-sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Canadian Parliamentarians for Global Action. At a round-table meeting with 27 NGOs, Ms. Campbell urged them "not to let yourselves be elbowed off the stage" in pressing forward with the nuclear disarmament agenda. MPI suggested to both government officials and NGOs that the recent U.N. Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education be implemented to develop a stronger public opinion.
This was MPI's fourth delegation to Canada since 1998. The Delegation consisted of: Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, P.C., former Prime Minister and former Defence Minister of Canada; Dr. Bruce Blair, President, Center for Defense Information; Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute; Alice Slater, President, Global Resource Action Center for the Environment; and Senator Douglas Roche, O.C., of Canada, Chairman, MPI. The MPI delegation was joined by Dr. Urs Cipolat, Program Manager of MPI, and Alyn Ware, Coordinator of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, which is also a program of the Global Security Institute.
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