On 9 March 2007, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, paid his first official visit to Canada. During his stay, Ambassador Pfirter met the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Ward P.D. Elcock, with whom he discussed the status of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention by the 181 OPCW Member States.
On behalf of his Government, Deputy Minister Elcock assured Ambassador Pfirter of Canada’s firm resolve to support the OPCW in its mission to achieve the objectives set forth by the Chemical Weapons Convention. He noted that the Department of National Defence was grateful for the opportunity to make a substantive contribution to the work of the Organization by providing basic live-agent training to newly-recruited OPCW personnel at the Counter-Terrorism Technology Centre operated by Defence R&D Canada Suffield.
In acknowledging Canada’s long-standing and resolute commitment to the CWC and its implementing agency the OPCW, Director-General Pfirter expressed his appreciation for the invaluable contributions Canada has made in a number of areas, ranging from providing training to OPCW personnel, to the Government’s leadership role in establishing the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Material of Mass Destruction, launched at the 2002 G-8 Summit at Kananaskis, Alberta and subsequent $200 million contribution to Russia’s chemical weapons destruction program. He further welcomed Canada’s New Government’s commitment to strengthening OPCW-Partnership links.
In his meeting with the Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, H.E. Colleen Swords, Director-General Pfirter thanked Assistant Deputy Minister Swords for Canada’s fruitful engagement in the effort to achieve universal membership in the CWC. The CWC’s membership had doubled in less than ten years, while universality in the Americas was drawing very near, even closer now with the accession of Barbados to take effect 6 April.
Assistant Deputy Minister Swords and Director-General Pfirter shared the view that the CWC’s global application is one of the most effective means available to the international community to prevent the use of chemical weapons and to foster the peaceful uses of chemistry. They agreed that close collaboration with industry and civil society, both academia and non-governmental organizations, was very important.
In the course of his visit, Director-General Pfirter had the opportunity to participate in a round table discussion at the Canadian Centre for Treaty Compliance, part of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, focussing on the challenges the OPCW in striving to achieve the full and effective implementation of the CWC.
Prior to his official visit to Ottawa, Director-General Pfirter had observed the inaugural basic training course for OPCW inspectors, hosted by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) at Canadian Forces Base Suffield in Alberta, Canada.
PR14 / 2007