Qujannamiik, Mr. Speaker. I am seconding this motion because, in my travels and discussions as I travel across the north and talk to people on various issues, the issue of gun control has been front and centre. I have yet to talk to one individual that supports this new bill, C-68, the gun control law.
So the Members of this House over the past months, in the different hearings and in the federal standing committee that was dealing with the act to which Members of this House made presentations, have addressed a lot of the concerns and issues that impact the north and impact northerners.
As my colleague, the mover of the motion, stated, firearms are weapons or pieces of equipment that we use in the north as part of our lifestyles; they are very rarely used to harm other people. I am not saying that doesn't happen because we all know it does.
No one is opposed to the safe use and storage of equipment and firearms, but we are opposed to the way the bill has been introduced and the way the bill has been railroaded through the House of Commons. This is why we are asking the Senate, which is now tasked with reviewing the bill that was passed by the House of Commons, to come to the north. We are requesting that they hold public hearings and that they come to the north to talk to northerners where we live, in our home communities.
So that's why I am seconding the motion and will be supporting it. Thank you.
---Applause