TITLE: CALL FOR STRICTER SMALL ARMS TRADE CONTROLS

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Peace and Justice Working Group of the World Affairs Committee of Toronto Conference

CONFERENCE ACTION: CARRIED

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:  Cost of postage, resource purchasing and distribution

SOURCE OF FUNDING:   Conference Budget

STAFFING IMPLICATIONS: Letter writing by Executive Secretary / or Conference President to Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers

VOLUNTEER IMPLICATIONS:  Prayer, Study, Letter Writing, Meeting with M.P.'s, Networking with Project Ploughshares and other groups concerned with this issue.

WHEREAS  the ready availability and misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) fuel conflict and exacerbate violence, human rights violations, underdevelopment, and poverty, and result in some 10,000 deaths each week; ( small arms: a weapon that can be carried by one person)

WHEREAS St. Paul admonishes us, "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding" (Romans 14:19)

WHEREAS we are mindful that a common and enduring thread of the mainstream ecumenical movement has been a commitment to demilitarization and disarmament;

WHEREAS our United Church community has had a continuing commitment to renounce violence, and to foster the development of social and political institutions that provide security , physical and spiritual well-being for all, without resort to weapons;

WHEREAS the United Nations Charter (Article 26) calls on all our governments to commit to the pursuit of peace and security with the least possible resort to lethal military force, and with the least diversion of the world's human and financial resources to the acquisition of armaments;

WHEREAS there is a continuing role "...for the churches to play in small arms awareness and in small arms control and reduction at all levels of society, from the local to the international" (World Council of Churches, Final report, Small Arms: Big Impact 1998);

WHEREAS there will be a United Nations Small Arms Conference in 2006, reminding us of the need to put our faith into action by contributing to a public sustained commitment to constructive non-military peace and security policy options;

BE IT RESOLVED by Shelley Roberts / Brian Perkins-McIntosh that this meeting of Toronto Conference Executive strongly urge the Government of Canada:

To uphold and strengthen its international arms control commitments, in particular, the Program of Action as agreed at the 2001 'UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects', and to work to bolster UN member States' commitment to the UN small arms process.

To promote the development and acceptance of a set of principles and laws to regulate international small arms transfers and to prevent the excessive and destabilizing accumulations of these weapons.

To strengthen Canadian export controls by ending arms transfers to states involved in armed conflict and gross and systematic human rights violations, by improving the transparency and control of national military exports, notably by requiring export permits for sales,. and by extending controls to all equipment exported for military end-use.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT at this meeting of Toronto Conference Executive, we call on individuals, congregations, and associated bodies to encourage our government and the international community to impose stricter controls on small arms and trade, through:

•deepening our understanding of the impact of the proliferation and misuse of conventional arms on peoples around the world.
•meeting with elected representatives to call for parliamentary support for stricter Canadian export controls and an international arms trade treaty.
•supporting Project Ploughshares' programme work, particularly their work on controlling the arms trade, and draw on its expertise and resources.
•participating in the "Million Faces" photo petition of the international  CONTROL ARMS campaign supported by Project Plougshares, Oxfam and Amnesty Interntional.    (CONTROL ARMS on Google)