Environment committee  Thank you very much. Good day, esteemed members. It's a pleasure to be here today to represent North American Fur Auctions and to talk about the importance of licensed hunting and trapping in Canada and to Canadians. There remain aspects of the fur trade that many believe hav

Environment committee  The study that the committee is undertaking?

Environment committee  We think that the importance of this work is significant for the people of Canada to really understand that the fur trade is still very much alive and well, that there are people living off the land and that there are, as Ms. Daigneault mentioned, trappers around the world who ar

Environment committee  Much of the fur that's trapped in Europe is for pest control, so they don't have seasons. They have largely licensed trappers and there's not nearly the level of enforcement or monitoring that we have here, and they have completely lost their understanding of how to prepare fur f

Environment committee  There are programs for Agriculture Canada in fact that support the promotion of farmed furs in Canada, of mink and fox in particular, that our member associations benefit from, but there are not similar kinds of programs to help wild fur be promoted internationally. I think that

Environment committee  To Canadians and used domestically, it's extremely low right now.

Environment committee  If you ask Canada Goose, they're now selling significant numbers of coats in Canada, and they're all trimmed with Canadian coyote primarily. We are talking with Canada Goose on issues that they want in terms of traceability and ensuring that they have that solid supply of the fur

Environment committee  Yes, certainly. Thank you. I think in some ways it's unfortunate that we need a bill that would protect people from undertaking legitimate activities that are traditional, lawful, cultural, and beneficial to families and communities. However, I think given the climate we're in t

Environment committee  It's very much a case of trends. When I was involved with my family business in the 1980s, we were a small family business in Peterborough selling $1 million worth of fur garments. The value today is less than 10% of that. It has changed significantly. We've also seen the economi

Environment committee  Thanks, Bob. I'll respond quickly and I'll leave some time for Ms. Daigneault. We see a lot of trends shifting. I mentioned the Canada goose and the phenomenon of young people and people who weren't traditional fur users still spending more than a thousand dollars for a jacket.