Yellowknife (Dec 12/03) - Nearly 17 months after vacating the NWT, a Canadian firearms office is due to open in Yellowknife next month.

The Canadian Firearms Centre (CFC) hired a Yellowknife man to staff the office in October. He is currently operating the NWT firearms centre out of Edmonton until he is ready to move into his office Dec. 17. The office will then open in early January.

But with budget cutbacks expected for the fiscal period ending in March, the office's stay in the territories may be a short one, said David Migadel, chief firearms officer for the Northwest region.

"It's a position until the end of March, which most of my positions are in the region right now," said Migadel.

"Certainly, it's my expectation that we'll be extending it. It's just that that's the staffing process within the federal government these days."

Migadel said it would be his preference to keep a firearms office open permanently in Yellowknife but from what he's heard, CFC's budget is "definitely going down." "Whether that will impact Yellowknife, I don't know that yet," said Migadel.

He said he wasn't certain how many people have already obtained Firearms Acquisition Licences (FACs) in the NWT or how many applications -- on average -- his office still receives.

Underwent training

The hiring process for the Yellowknife office began last August. The new recruit has since taken extensive training in Edmonton, followed by a couple more weeks at RCMP headquarters in Regina.

Migadel said the new officer's main duty will be to process NWT applications for Firearms Acquisition Licences, and investigate current licence holders who get into trouble with the law.

Dale Johnston, manager of Wolverine Sports Shop, said he was surprised to hear the government would go through so much effort to train someone for the job only to see it possibly cut next spring.

He said the firearms centre has been a boondoggle right from the beginning and blamed Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew for not doing enough to ensure Northerners had easy access to the program.

"Ethel hasn't done anything for the people of the Territories, particularly the outlying communities, in assisting individuals to get their firearms licences," said Johnston.

"Perhaps, to do something effective, she should lobby her government to discontinue the registration of firearms."