Former Canadian arms negotiator blasts Ottawa’s cluster bomb bill

OTTAWA — Canada’s former chief negotiator of the Convention on Cluster Munitions says the Harper government is betraying the trust of other countries by inserting a controversial clause in the treaty’s ratification bill.

Earl Turcotte, who quit the federal public service in protest over the issue, levels the allegation in a written submission to the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, which is holding hearings on the bill.

Bill C-6 faces widespread international condemnation, including from the normally neutral International Committee of the Red Cross, because of a clause that would allow the Canadian Forces to be involved in the use of cluster bombs in joint operations with non-treaty signatories such as the United States.

Critics say that would undermine the intent of the treaty — banning the use of an imprecise weapon that has proven particularly harmful to civilians.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/24/former-canadian-arms-negotiator-blasts-ottawas-cluster-bomb-bill/