Something that may have escaped our notice.

We have a busy world. Geopolitics is getting more mercurial. Day to day concerns of managing life are more demanding. We cannot pay attention to everything. We have to triage. We have to separate the more important from that which is less pressing.

We can be forgiven that we are not pre-occupied with questions about the Treaty on the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Has Canada signed it? No ! If you thought that we had signed, you are not alone. Some of our senior parliamentarians are surprised that we have not.

Does this matter? Yes!

Canada has supported the banning of chemical and biologic weapons, land mines and cluster munitions. Nuclear weapons are to be added to this list. Over half of the countries in the world have signed on to support the movement to put nuclear weapons in the rearview mirror on the dust-pile of history.

The TPNW is unique in that it was brought to life by civil society. People like you and me, organizations like the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and countries who see that nuclear weapons are a growing threat to global security joined together to create this treaty which was unveiled by the United Nations in 2017.

It is reviewed regularly in meetings of the states who are party (MSP) to the treaty. The third such meeting is scheduled for March 10-14, 2025. It is open to all states, whether they have signed on or not. The importance is examining progress and overcoming barriers that will allow the TPNW to become universal.

Canada needs to attend this meeting. Current geopolitics has led to an acceleration in the nuclear arms race. This makes the whole world less safe.

The nuclear weapons states have shown that they can ignore international law when it is convenient and they consistently pay lip service to disarmament while playing a game of smoke and mirrors that increases the size and danger from nuclear arsenals.

Canada’s voice as a peace broker needs to ring out again.

We can work diligently to promote non-violent conflict resolution instead of diverting resources to support aggression and violence in the pursuit of national interests.

This is not going to be easy. It will depend on building relationships with those who seem different to us. It will require us to search out points of unity so that we can collaborate.

Surely, banning nuclear weapons and eventual nuclear disarmament is something that would be beneficial for the health and well-being of all humanity.

Canada is committed to nuclear disarmament. Attendance at the upcoming MSP for the TPNW would put some needed impetus into this commitment.