City Council motion on Ban the Bomb passes with unanimous consent
I am pleased to announce that the motion I brought forward at City Council this past week, asking the City of Ottawa to join the international movement of cities working to denounce, ban and eliminate nuclear weapons in support of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), passed on unanimous consent.
The UN TPNW, is a landmark international agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal of their total elimination. The Treaty explicitly references the disproportionate impacts of nuclear weapons on women, Indigenous Peoples, and the environment.
The Cities Appeal to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has already been signed by 17 Canadian cities, including Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg, and by many other cities around the world. The Cities Appeal to support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is something that we must support, especially in our unique position as the capital city of Canada. It is not only the right thing to do, but it is also an opportunity to take national leadership on a critical and timely issue facing the world as we speak.
Although Canada has not yet signed the nuclear ban treaty, pressure from the grassroots, catalyzed by city governments, can directly contribute to the possibility of our government signing and ratifying the TPNW. It is vital that states committed to nuclear disarmament and a rules-based world order work together to make the world safe from nuclear weapons by joining the TPNW. This treaty offers the best hope of ending decades of deadlock in disarmament and moving the world towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.
As Ottawa City Council’s Liaison for Women and Gender Equity, I am keenly aware that all residents, including a disproportionate number of women and children in cities, suffer devastating and long-lasting impacts of nuclear weapons.
Thank you to Ban the Bomb Ottawa and ICAN who worked closely with my office to craft this motion to support the Cities Appeal for the United TPNW. A special thanks to the Chair of the Ottawa Board of Health, Councillor Keith Egli who joined me as my seconder on the motion and thank you to all of my colleagues for their support in moving this forward.