Thomas D'Arcy McGee
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Minister guarantees new gun laws won’t hurt hunting rights
Cabin Radio
Published: April 6, 2023 at 6:24am
OLLIE WILLIAMS
https://cabinradio.ca/125680/news/politics/minister-guarantees-new-gun-laws-wont-hurt-hunting-rights/
Federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino is in Yellowknife, Łútsël K’é and Behchokǫ̀ this week to make budget announcements – and talk guns.
In February, the federal government abandoned amendments to proposed firearms legislation that Indigenous groups and others, including NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod, had opposed.
McLeod said in December the amendments, which introduced a list of long guns to be banned, were “a bit blurry for me and a little bit concerning,” and Bill C-21 as a whole would not have his support until he was “completely convinced” northern hunters, sport shooters and trappers will be unaffected.
On Wednesday, Mendicino promised that nothing in Bill C-21 will affect northern Indigenous hunting rights.
The minister went further, repeating an accusation that Conservatives have engaged in “disinformation” by suggesting that the bill would have that effect.
“[They] say we’re going after hunters and the like. We’re not,” Mendicino told Cabin Radio.
Pressed on whether his trip to the NWT is motivated in part by local dissatisfaction at the way C-21 has rolled out – McLeod said his own party’s amendments to the bill took him by surprise, and the Assembly of First Nations vowed to oppose the legislation – Mendicino said he had come “to strengthen relationships” and would use meetings this week to “really have that direct conversation and to make sure that we’re aligning the experiences with our legislation.”
He also suggested Bill C-21 could be used to tackle the advent of 3D-printed weapons, which have begun to make appearances in Yellowknife and represent a separate frontier in the fight against illegal guns, though that would require a further amendment.
Meanwhile, Mendicino said he wants to “accelerate the process” of rolling out First Nations policing, which he said would allow First Nations in the North “to drive their own public safety initiatives, including and up to the creation of their own police services.”
Alberta’s Siksika Nation last year began moves to replace the RCMP with its own police service. A community policing pilot has been taking place in Fort Liard.
Mendicino said he hopes to table related legislation this year.
Cabin Radio
Published: April 6, 2023 at 6:24am
OLLIE WILLIAMS
https://cabinradio.ca/125680/news/politics/minister-guarantees-new-gun-laws-wont-hurt-hunting-rights/
Federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino is in Yellowknife, Łútsël K’é and Behchokǫ̀ this week to make budget announcements – and talk guns.
In February, the federal government abandoned amendments to proposed firearms legislation that Indigenous groups and others, including NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod, had opposed.
McLeod said in December the amendments, which introduced a list of long guns to be banned, were “a bit blurry for me and a little bit concerning,” and Bill C-21 as a whole would not have his support until he was “completely convinced” northern hunters, sport shooters and trappers will be unaffected.
On Wednesday, Mendicino promised that nothing in Bill C-21 will affect northern Indigenous hunting rights.
The minister went further, repeating an accusation that Conservatives have engaged in “disinformation” by suggesting that the bill would have that effect.
“[They] say we’re going after hunters and the like. We’re not,” Mendicino told Cabin Radio.
Pressed on whether his trip to the NWT is motivated in part by local dissatisfaction at the way C-21 has rolled out – McLeod said his own party’s amendments to the bill took him by surprise, and the Assembly of First Nations vowed to oppose the legislation – Mendicino said he had come “to strengthen relationships” and would use meetings this week to “really have that direct conversation and to make sure that we’re aligning the experiences with our legislation.”
He also suggested Bill C-21 could be used to tackle the advent of 3D-printed weapons, which have begun to make appearances in Yellowknife and represent a separate frontier in the fight against illegal guns, though that would require a further amendment.
Meanwhile, Mendicino said he wants to “accelerate the process” of rolling out First Nations policing, which he said would allow First Nations in the North “to drive their own public safety initiatives, including and up to the creation of their own police services.”
Alberta’s Siksika Nation last year began moves to replace the RCMP with its own police service. A community policing pilot has been taking place in Fort Liard.
Mendicino said he hopes to table related legislation this year.
