Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
My first question is for Chief Lazare.
The Minister of Public Safety recently had some meetings with your community. It was reported in the local media on February 24, and there were some quotes from a member of your community, Bobby Patton. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that gentleman. You're nodding your head yes. I'm going to read these because I don't want to misquote him. What he said is really interesting. I'll ask for your comments.
This is what Mr. Patton said:
“It’s not like hunting back in the olden days where (animals) were plentiful, easy to get to,” Patton said. He noted that hunting grounds have shrunk as development has intensified and populations have grown, increasing the need for efficiency in hunting.
“If you want to go out and you want to kill one goose, one shot, one kill, perfect,” he said, invoking those who are hunting for sport. However, he insists that goose hunters targeting the animals for sustenance depend on more aggressive weapons to yield enough meat.
“They all depend on their semi-automatic weapons. One shot, you’re not going to get much from,” he said.
“It’s going to limit the amount of harvest it’s going to bring back to the community, to the people. It’s going to lead to a lot of people probably starving,” said Patton.
Could you elaborate on that? That's quite a comment by Mr. Patton, that people would be starving.