Subject:  CILA Presentation to the UN Small Arms Summit
   Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 13:26:42 -0400
   From:CILA / ICAL National Office <[email protected]>
     To: (Recipient list suppressed)
 
 
 

CILA / ICAL
Defending Canada's Heritage
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United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons
in all its Aspects

NGO Presentation  -  July 16, 2001

Tony Bernardo, Executive Director

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Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for allowing me to address this assembly.  I live in a country of
pristine lakes and untamed wilderness.  A land that, more so than most, was
founded with a rifle in one hand and a beaver pelt in the other.  Canada is
indeed the land of the hunter.  A land that, to use the popular phrase, is
truly awash with small arms, most of them unregistered and uncontrolled.

Firearms are an integral part of our Canadian heritage, We are proud of this
for it is a heritage of hard work and courage in the face of adversity.

Canadians citizens own as many as 15 million small arms, one of the highest
rates of private firearms ownership in the world.  And this has taught us some
interesting lessons.
Do firearms create violence?  No.  If the simple presence of privately owned
small arms sparked violence amongst the citizenry, Canada would be bathed in
blood.  But it’s not. Canada enjoys one of the lowest murder and violent crime
rates in the world.

Do firearms create international conflict?  No.  Canadians are privileged to
share the longest undefended border in the world with our friend and partner,
the United States.  Yet, despite the presence of millions of privately owned,
unregistered firearms, we coexist in an unparalleled peace.  Indeed, the
relationship shared by our two countries is the envy of the world.

Do the presence of so many small arms create poverty?  Once again, no.  The
United Nations has consistently rated Canada, along with Norway and the United
States, one of the best places in the world to live.  Interestingly, all three
countries have very high rates of civilian firearms ownership.  Canada is a
modern, prosperous country and small arms have not made it less so.

I am also compelled to speak out on behalf of Canada’s First Nations.  Some of
our indigenous peoples depend on firearms for their very existence.  Under
treaty obligation, the government of Canada still provides surplus military
firearms and ammunition to our First Nations peoples living in the harsh
environment of Canada’s north.  In the land of the midnight sun, guns mean
survival.  How will the “no transfer to non state actor” provisions in the
Draft Plan of Action interact with this sacred trust?

Clearly, the mere presence of large numbers of small arms are not the root
cause of turmoil and Canada is manifest proof of this.  Canadians have
resolved
to settle our conflicts with words, not bullets.

Few things are simple.  Other factors, far more than the mere existence of
firearms, create the environment of conflict that the United Nations has
toiled
so long to heal.  We implore you to concentrate your efforts upon fully
automatic “Weapons of War” and “Illicit Trade”, not the firearms of our
heritage.  Canada’s five million firearms owners applaud the position of the
United States Delegation in protecting the rights of law abiding recreational
firearms owners and we wish you well in your struggle to bring peace to this
Earth.

Thank You

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Distributed By:

Canadian Institute for Legislative Action / Institut Canadien pour l'Action
Législative

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