Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I have listened with amusement to a CBC Radio interview on February 11 with Peter Hollingsworth, a representative of the Native Animal Brotherhood - Aboriginal People Against Furs for Fashion. In his statement, Mr. Hollingsworth said that the fur trade was morally and ethically wrong and that the fur trade did not exist before the Europeans introduced it to the aboriginal people. Madam Speaker, I would not want to guess what planet this individual is from. What did we wear if we did not use furs for fashion?
When I listened to the interview, the image of natives running around buck naked kept leaping into my mind. I then had this vision of grass skirts and spruce bras.
---Laughter
Perhaps leaves, one for the men, three for the women, step on the blue suede shoes.
---Laughter
Then I thought about the weather up here. Then I thought about the mosquitos. I decided that we probably did wear clothes of some kind. I know for a fact that our people ate wildlife meat and used their skins long before the white man ever showed up. Ceremonial dress, in most aboriginal cultures, involves the use of small animal skins, such as rabbits or beavers. When this gentlemen says that we, as people, should get out of trapping, that it is no longer economically viable, that our people should become part of the wage economy, that is all well and good, Madam Speaker, when you are from Guelph, Ontario like Mr. Hollingsworth, and have the opportunity to participate in the economy. But I would like to point out to Mr. Hollingsworth that trapping in this day and age is more often a means to an end for aboriginal people.
A person needs to be able to buy guns and bullets in order to hunt so he can eat. To buy these things, you need money. To get money, you have to have a job. There are hardly any jobs up here. So a person has to trap to get money. A vicious cycle, indeed, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, except for...