Veteran's newest battle is the fight against the fur ban

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In an attempt to counter a proposed European Union fur importation ban, representatives of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, along with some Aboriginal veterans and provincial officials, travelled to Europe to plead the case of Canadian Aboriginal trappers. The delegation visited London, Dublin, Brussels, Antwerp, the Hague and Amsterdam, and met with Union officials.

"I think the trip was a success," said Vice-Chief Allan Adam. "It did the job that we had to do, which was to inform the people in Europe about their legislation."

The proposed legislation will ban fur products from animals that have been caught in leghold traps. The European Union represents 15 nations and is a major market for Canadian fur. Approximately 75 per cent of all Canadian fur is exported to Europe.

"This regulation is contradictory, because they allow the trapping of pests, such as muskrat," said Adam. "A muskrat is a muskrat, no matter where you trap it."

The traps the Europeans use would be illegal in Canada, because they still use teethed leghold traps. This is hypocritical, as far as Adam is concerned.

The Europeans are fighting the ban because they consider the use of leg-hold traps to be inhumane. But Canada has been at the forefront of developing trapping methods that are less injurious to the animal, and technology that allows for a quicker kill.

"We see a lot of implications (to) this ban," said Adam. The Europeans are "breaking their own international trade regulations (and) we do have an option to take this to the World Trade Organization."

This is the third time the European Union has attempted to impose this ban. Initially proposed in 1991, Union regulation 3254/91 would have banned the import of 13 species and was supposed to go into effect in 1995. It was postponed to Jan. 1, 1996 and then again to Jan. 1, 1997. Each time, Canada, the United States and Russia all pressured the Union to extend the deadline. As part of that pressure, the FSIN decided that veterans of the Second World War would add an emotional component to its argument.

Holland still has a lot of feelings for Canadians, said Adam, referring to the role the Canadian forces had in liberating that country from Nazi occupation.

Adam, however, would like to see the Union de3al directly with Aboriginal people instead of with the federal and provincial governments.

"From a First Nations' perspective, (the Europeans) are playing with our lives and (they're) not involving us," said Adam. The Europeans "basically tell us that the Canadian and Provincial governments represent our interest and we want to break away from that."

Adam also felt it was important that the veterans visited the graves of their fallen comrades, since most of them hadn't been in Europe for 50 years.