Europe threatening fur trade

Page 6

European Union Regulation 3254/91 comes into effect for Canada on Jan

1. 1996. Unless Canada bans leghold traps in all its provinces and

territories for 13 different species of fur bearers, AND adopts

internationally recognized "humane" trapping methods the European market

will be closed to most of our wild furs. As 90 per cent of our wild

furs are exported, and 75 per cent of those end up in Europe, that will

mean that our largest market will suddenly disappear. If we lose that

market, the fur industry in Canada could very well die.

It seems our options are limited. We can either comply with the new

rule or not. If not, we would need to find a market to replace Europe,

and quickly. Some work has been done by the Wild Fur Council in

developing markets for North American wild fur in Asia. But it will

take another 10 years or so before we could rely on that market.

It would be easy for us to dig our heels in and say, "it is our

Aboriginal and Treaty right to trap for animals and to make a living

from the land; that we are going to continue to do so; and that the

government of Canada has an obligation under the Constitution to protect

that right."

We do have that constitutional right within Canada. Indeed, some of

our Aboriginal rights are recognized internationally, but that doesn't

change the fact that next year the market for our furs may simply

disappear. We have no right to force someone to buy a product they have

decided they don't want.

The other option is to try hard to keep our European market. This

means complying with the rule and replacing our leghold traps with those

which would seem to be more humane.

Some efforts have ben made in Europe to try to convince the European

Parliament and its member states that our way of life is actually good

for the environment. It is clear that the Aboriginal lobby has the most

chance of gaining support in Europe. Aboriginal people must carry on

their efforts to educate the non-Aboriginal European and North American

populations about trapping and the environment.

Only those closet to the land can have the respect that trappers have

for their environment.

For that reason and others, it is difficult to accept the fact that

these Europeans, so removed from their own hunter/gatherer ancestors,

can have an effect on our relationship to our environment. These latest

restrictions on our lifestyle are just another wave of cultural

imperialism directed at us by a new generation of self-righteous,

ethnocentric people who think their ways are superior to others'' ways,

and especially to ours. The Europeans are still trying to "civilize the

savages." Historically, when faced with forced change from outside

powers, there wasn't much we could do but make do the best we could.

In 1821, when the Hudson's Bay Company took over their competitors and

claimed a monopoly interest in our furs and our lands, and dictated

prices, terms of trade, and conservation measures, we had no choice but

to comply or give up trapping altogether. We adapted. And there was no

government to help us then.

In 1995 we can do it again. This time, the Government of Canada is

committed to help us. Through trapper training programs and a trap

replacement program for some sectors of the Aboriginal trapper

population, we will yet be able to comply with Europe's demands and

continue to trap furs.