Mr. Speaker, on February 27th of this year, this Legislative Assembly expressed concern about the negative impact on northern residents of Bill C-68, An Act Respecting Firearms and Other Weapons, and unanimously supported a motion to present those concerns to the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs at its hearings in Ottawa. A subcommittee on gun control was formed for this purpose, consisting of the following honourable Members: Mr. Patterson, Mr. Antoine, Mr. Ningark, Mrs. Marie-Jewell, Mr. Arngna'naaq, Mr. Koe, and myself, as chairperson.
The Members of this subcommittee met on several occasions to develop our position and to settle upon an approach that would address the interests of all northerners who would be adversely affected if Bill C-68 is brought into force without amendments. Our approach to this issue focused on the concerns of northerners, in general, and aboriginal people in particular.
Our work, which was conducted in the true spirit of consensus government, resulted in the preparation of a brief on Bill C-68, which I propose to table later this afternoon. I will also table copies of the oral presentation I made on behalf of this Legislature. Mr. Antoine prepared his own submission and he plans to table this as well. As you will see, we endeavoured to put before the standing committee all of the concerns expressed by many of our constituents, as well as a review of the legal issues.
All Members of our subcommittee spoke and the position was well-received by the standing committee. While in Ottawa, committee Members met individually with several Members of Parliament, including our northern MPs, Mr. Anawak and the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, to discuss our concerns.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we be candid among ourselves and with our constituents. The Government of Canada and the Minister of Justice have made it quite clear that they do not want to shelve this bill or entertain amendments of any consequence. In particular, they are committed to universal firearms registration. It is not going to be easy to change their minds.
While the presentation to the standing committee went well, it is only a beginning. It is going to take a lot of work from northerners and others who want changes, before significant amendments will be made to the proposed legislation. For the moment, however, we can take some comfort that we made an impact on the Members of the standing committee, which is an essential feature of any strategy to influence meaningful amendments to Bill C-68 and to minimize the negative impact of the proposed firearms legislation. Thank you.
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