NOTE:
Versions of this article also appeared in: The Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver
Sun, Calgary Herald, and the Edmonton Journal.
PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE:
2003.07.23
EDITION:
National
SECTION:
Canada
PAGE:
A7
BYLINE:
Tim Naumetz
SOURCE:
CanWest News Service
DATELINE:
OTTAWA
ILLUSTRATION:
Black & White Photo: Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz applied
for documents.
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Natives
refusing to register guns, documents show: First Nations admit firearms safety a
problem, but want their own laws
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OTTAWA
- Thousands of aboriginals across Canada are refusing to obtain gun licences and
register their rifles and shotguns under the federal Firearms Act, government
documents reveal. Justice Department surveys and briefing papers show that,
despite widespread concern in First Nations communities about gun safety, most
aboriginal gun owners and their leaders oppose participation in federal
licensing and registration because they want their own gun regulations and laws
as a treaty right.
The
documents, obtained by Canadian Alliance MP Garry Breitkreuz under the Access to
Information Act, also reveal widespread refusal by First Nations communities to
take part in a 2002 government effort to help native communities comply with the
Firearms Act.
In
the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, on the U.S. border between Cornwall, Ont.,
and the state of New York, one study found only 1% of gun owners had complied
with the Firearms Act by last year.
Despite
the refusal of Akwesasne gun owners to license and register, 80% of respondents
in a May, 2001, survey of public opinion reported gun safety problems in the
community. Most of the respondents said the problems were serious, and nearly
all respondents reported at least one gun-related incident or issue. Akwesasne
was the site of violent internal feuding in the early 1990s over smuggling and
gambling, when at least two men died in gun battles between the opposing sides.
The survey, sponsored by the Akwesasne Justice Department and the Canadian
Firearms Centre, found a majority of gun owners in the community support
licensing but, like the majority in the wider community, want it done under
Mohawk law.
Similar
joint surveys were done at the Tyendinaga Mohawk First Nation near Belleville,
Ont., and Wahta Mohawk First Nation in the Muskoka district north of Toronto,
with similar findings. At the Tyendinaga Mohawk community, 71% of respondents
reported gun safety problems and virtually all respondents supported firearms
legislation, but nearly all respondents wanted a Mohawk Firearms Agency, with
about 25% agreeing to join federal involvement.
A
2002 sample of gun licence applications from 67 First Nations communities in
Ontario, Quebec, the northern territories and the western provinces showed
licences were sought by only a fraction of the expected number of gun owners in
each community. In northern Manitoba, only 847 gun licence applications were
received from 12 First Nations communities with a total population of 17,129. In
Saskatchewan, 1,054 licences were sought from eight northern communities whose
populations totalled 13,419.
Mr.
Breitkreuz said the studies show non-compliance by aboriginal gun owners and
hunters undermines the integrity of the Firearms Act and Criminal Code
provisions that cover the firearms registry. "If you have criminal law that
a certain segment of society does not comply with and you don't do anything
about it, that makes a mockery of the Criminal Code. I believe that this is the
beginning of the end [of the registry]," Mr. Breitkreuz said.
The
2002 sample of compliance concluded that failure to take action or come up with
a policy could be damaging to native hunters as well as relations between the
aboriginal communities and law enforcement agencies. It said field reports
showed aboriginal hunters and gun owners were being increasingly charged for gun
possession without licences. "This not only damages already sensitive
police/aboriginal relations in many parts of the country but risks fines [which
many aboriginal people are unlikely to have a capacity to pay] and the
possibility of incarceration, which can only serve to further increase
aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system," the study
said.
Wayne Easter, the Solicitor-General, said the government cannot exempt aboriginals from the Firearms Act. "Whether you are aboriginal, whether you are French, whether you are English, whether you are Scottish, or any culture or nationality, on this law we believe the same rules should apply to all people," he said in an interview. Mr. Easter added that compliance rates are likely higher now because of the time that has passed since the surveys and studies were done.