NEWS RELEASES
AXWORTHY TO ADDRESS LANDMINES CONFERENCEAND ATTEND COMMONWEALTH MEETING
September 4, 1997 No. 140
AXWORTHY TO ADDRESS LANDMINES CONFERENCE
AND ATTEND COMMONWEALTH MEETING
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy will address delegates to the Non-Governmental Organizations' (NGO) Forum taking place as part of the International
Landmines Conference in Oslo, Norway, on September 10. While in Oslo, Mr. Axworthy
will also meet with Norwegian Foreign Minister Bjoern Tore Godal.
A delegation made up of Members of Parliament Dr. Keith Martin, (Esquimault-Juan
de Fuca), Ms. Paddy Torsney (Burlington) and Mr. Jacques Saada (Brossard la
Prairie) will also attend the NGO Forum, which takes place from September 7 to 10,
to discuss issues such as mine clearance and victim assistance.
"I congratulate the Norwegian government for organizing this conference, which is
a critical step in the international effort to ban landmines. The discussions are
off to a productive start and I am looking forward to visiting the negotiating
conference while I am in Oslo. I am confident that, together, the delegates will
develop a sound treaty that will lead to a clear and unambiguous ban on these
indiscriminate weapons worldwide," said Mr. Axworthy.
The Oslo Conference is taking place from September 1 to 19 to conclude
negotiations on an international treaty banning the use, production, transfer and
stockpiling of anti-personnel mines.
The Minister will then join Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa) David
Kilgour in London, England, to attend a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG) on September 11 and 12.
Mr. Axworthy and Mr. Kilgour will join ministers from the seven other CMAG member
countries to draft and finalize their report and recommendations for future
Commonwealth action on The Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. This is the last
meeting before the CMAG presents its report to the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October.
Created in 1995, the CMAG's mandate is to recommend collective Commonwealth
responses to flagrant or persistent violations of the principles contained in the
Commonwealth's Harare Declarations on human rights and democracy. The CMAG member
countries are Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Malaysia, Ghana,
South Africa and Zimbabwe.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
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