Mr. Speaker, thousands of men and women are getting ready to head into the woods of Abitibi-Témiscamingue today for the opening of the hunting season. Moose hunting is a major industry in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, with some 24,000 permits issued annually. In many villages, life revolves around the hunting and fishing seasons. Last Saturday, I returned to Moffet for the hunter's mass, a more than 35-year-old tradition honouring nature, where the local church serves as a gathering place for hunters, not to mention the beavers and moose in attendance.
In addition, many children are getting ready for their first hunt. I hope they will be left with a favourable impression of this noble activity, which belongs to a tradition thousands of years old for the first peoples of this country. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to wish all hunters a safe and successful hunt and remind them that alcohol and firearms do not mix.
To all hunters, may your aim be straight and true, because, as the French proverb goes, you cannot sell the bear's skin until you kill the bear.