Madam Speaker, the federal Minister, since coming into office a year ago, has indicated some eagerness on moving on campaign promises to toughen gun laws and legislation governing firearms in this country. It has been my initiative to meet with him, once last March, to indicate to him that the proposed program to implement national firearms safety programs and requirements for

acquiring firearms acquisition certificate was not acceptable in the Northwest Territories, and explained to him the reasons for it; many of which are issues related to the use of firearms by aboriginal people pursuing traditional pursuits of hunting and trapping. In any case, as the Member knows, those particular programs have been implemented in all parts of the country except here in the Northwest Territories, and the Minister has agreed to defer that.

We're presently looking at a two-tier program that all people in the Northwest Territories should take. There is no disagreement on the element of safety. Whether you're an aboriginal person or not, there is agreement that the requirement for providing safety courses and to find some mechanism to ensure that all people practise and know how to take safety precautions in using and acquiring and storing firearms, to make sure we don't become law breakers in our own land because of laws that are not relevant and are not applicable here in the Northwest Territories.

So the answer to the question is yes, we have taken it, but mostly in view of recognizing that there are a growing number of people using guns across Canada. There is also growing concern about how well people handle firearms, even here in the Northwest Territories. We want to make sure that if there are measures being taken, they complement our concerns as aboriginal people, as leaders in government to make sure they promote the interest of the safety of people out in the public. Thank you.