.
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Ottawa (July 16/01) - A red-tape nightmare has made pursuing a traditional Inuit harvesting lifestyle difficult.
While the federal government forges ahead with its Firearms Act, Quebec Senator Charlie Watt is spearheading a movement to ease the situation.
 Lorraine Brooke co-ordinated the Inuit Working Group on the Firearms Act. |
Watt did so by gathering together 12 representatives from the country's Inuit organizations and appointing consultant Lorraine Brooke to head up the group.
Brooke said the group met in late spring to identify the specific concerns and then report back to the federal justice department and to their respective organizations. Watt presented the list of difficulties to McLellan.
Brooke said there was a sense of urgency to the process.
"We don't want to get ground down by the bureaucracy. It's not something that can go on for the next two or three years," said Brooke. "We have a window of opportunity between now and registration to get some of these things resolved," she said.
All gun owners must register their firearms by Dec. 31, 2002.
Glenn Williams, Nunavut Tunn-gavik's wildlife adviser, participated in the working group. He said the land claims organization knew from the start the legislation would be problematic because it was designed for southern Canadians.
"For aboriginal cultures and especially Inuit, it's essential to use firearms. They are not recreational. They are used as a tool to feed family," he said.
Brooke said she is now developing a budget and looking for proposals for making the process easier. "Whether it's drafting new regulations or figuring out a different kind of program, I can't say, but the mandate is to come up with concrete solutions," she said.