Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my understanding that all guns in Canada will be required to be registered, if the legislation is passed as is, I think, by January 1st of the year 2003. If you fail to register guns that you own or possess by that time, you will be seen to be committing a criminal offence. Thank you.

Tony Whitford Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard the Minister say earlier on that there will be public hearings on the proposed federal firearms legislation. I would like to ask the Minister if he could inform this House as to what actions the Minister of Justice here in the territories will be taking to ensure that some of these public hearings are held in the Northwest Territories.

Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my suggestion that once a more thorough analysis and review of the proposed legislation is done by our officials, in conjunction with other jurisdictions, I will have an opportunity to brief the Members of this Legislature who wish to discuss it in some forum, seek some direction and advice from Members on a possible strategy to continue to press the concerns that we have as Members and the concerns of the people of the Northwest Territories to ensure that the legislation that is passed more properly reflects the real intent of the legislation. We will be considering, for instance, more lobbying, utilizing our Members of Parliament who are in Ottawa to represent us, and also to strategize on how to make maximum use of the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, I think it is called, that will be conducting these hearings, and to use everything we can to make sure they come north to hear and see us in the environment that we're talking about. Thank you.

Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Justice, also to do with gun control. Before the legislation was tabled, a number of outfitters had expressed concern that their clients from across Canada, the US and Europe would experience considerable difficulty with this sort of legislation. They would experience considerable difficulty coming to the Northwest Territories to hunt. Given the economic implications of this, I was wondering if the Minister has had a chance to examine the legislation enough to give us an indication of what he sees as the impact on sports hunting and outfitters of the new legislation.

Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, we have not had an opportunity to get into a detailed analysis. It's unclear to me at this time how the legislation will impact on, for instance, sport hunters from other countries coming in and how it will impact on the import and transportation of firearms from outside the country. So we will just have to wait until we get a clear idea of how this legislation impacts on that and get back to the Member. Thank you.