OTTAWA REPORT

Page 2

What's the difference between a milkshake and a Native trapper? "Nothing," according to the animal rights movement. One of their screwball ideas is that it's barbaric to trap animals and milk cows. If they had their way, some animal rights activists would outlaw trapping and milking.

But they're going to have a little more trouble trying to ban trapping - now that a parliamentary committee has had its say on the matter. The Committee on Aboriginal Affairs sent the past year studying the fur industry. The committee's report is out now and it agrees completely with the people in the industry, especially Native trappers.

Although the committee came out on the side of the trapping industry, it warned that the animal rights movement is not going to disappear. In fact, most Canadians would be flabbergasted if they knew what some of the activists are up to. For starters, they say that trapping should be banned. But that's not all. They say hunting and fishing should be banned too. What's more, one particular activist says the dairy industry and the wool industry should be outlawed too. The reason, supposedly, is that keeping cows for milk and keeping sheep for wool is exploitation.

I should make it clear that the animal rights movement is made up of many different people with many different ideas. Some are "moderates" who just want trappers to use a "humane" trap. At the other end of the movement, though, are the hard-core fanatics.

Most of them live in urban areas. Most are vegetarians, white, well-educated and upper-middle class. They want to protect animals and they don't care what happens to Native trappers and their families. They say that since trapping is going to be extinct some day anyway, Native people should just get used to the idea. The animal rights fanatics are doing all they can to stop trapping by destroying the market for furs - just as they destroyed the market for seal pelts a few years ago.

The animal rights movement is strong because it's well financed. The International Fund for Animal Welfare, for example, pulls in over $6 million a year in just the United States.

The parliamentary Committee on Aboriginal Affairs has recognized the threat posed by the anti-fur lobby. The members know that trapping is more than just a job to Native people. They recognize that trapping is a way of life that creates a unique social, spiritual and cultural bond between the people, the land and its resources.

The committee, headed by Alberta Tory MP Stan Schellenberger, came out swinging against the animal rights movement. Native leaders couldn't be happier about

the report if they wrote it themselves.

The first recommendation says the government should commit itself to saving the trapping industry. Another calls on Ottawa to help Native people expand their involve-ment throughout the fur industry. A third says the government should put more money into the hands of Native groups trying to fight the anti-fur lobby. The last of the 36 recommendations says the government should change its attitude toward trapping and publicly state, once and for all, that Canada stands four-square behind Native trappers.

I liked the way the committee took the side of the trappers and I liked the way it criticized the government. Before I get carried away, though, I should remind myself that the report is just a report. It comes from a committee that is not always listened to by the government. (Remember the report on Indian self-government that's been sitting on a shelf for the past three years?)

In any event, it'll be up to Brian Mulroney and the rest of the Cabinet to decide what to do about the recommendations. But if they think about the history of this country, they'll be reminded that Canada was built on the fur trade - and that for three centuries fur, not gold or oil, was king.

The government should also consider the present situation. Canada is still the third largest producer of furs in the world. The fur industry, s $600-million-a-year business. Canada exports 90% of the raw pelts and 50% of the fur garments it produces.

If the fanatics in the animal rights movement win the fight against fur, Native trappers will be the biggest losers. As things stand now, the vast majority of people in this country use animal products every day for food and clothing.

So I think it's long past time for Canada to tell the world that it is legal, proper and moral for Native peoples, and others, to use and profit from the skin and meat of animals. The government should defend our trappers and promote the sale of products that come from the killing of wildlife. As a country we should stand up to the animal rights movement right now and throw away our wool sweaters, give up milk, meat, fish and who knows what else and become a nation of bunny-hugging vegetarians.