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New international laws regulating the global trade in arms and ammunition enter into force on Dec. 24. Project Ploughshares issued a news release (see previous posting on Defence Watch) criticizing the Canadian government for allowing Canada to be the only NATO member not to have signed the Arms Trade Treaty or ATT.

That has prompted the following release from Adam Hodge, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs minister John Baird. Here is what he wrote to Defence Watch:

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Harper government says there is no need to sign arms control treaty because Canada’s export controls are the strongest Back to video

“Signing the Arms Trade Treaty would not improve upon how we assess exports of military items. Canada already has some of the strongest export controls in the world.

The ATT actually brings countries up to our export control standards.

It is important that such a treaty should not affect lawful and responsible firearms owners nor discourage the transfer of firearms for recreational uses such as sport shooting and hunting. We’ll make sure that any treaty we sign onto is good for Canada, and good for Canadians‎.”