German Chancellor Helmut Kohl seemed open to First Nations concerns about fur exports after a three-day visit to three Baffin Island communities in June.
“We have to consider their interests and the effects of our decisions,” Kohl told a German TV crew. “We have to talk about it again in the European community.
I see these people are very concerned about their nature and environment.” Kohl seemed to have a near-religious experience during the visit. “The sheer size and vastness of the landscape, the open space—I think that here, you feel closer to the Creation as Lord has intended it and how he has handed it down to us as a gift,” he said.
The European Parliament votes next month on whether to allow Canadian furs to be imported.
“We have become very dependent on government programs since seal skin prices became worth nothing,” said local NWT assembly member Rebecca Mike in one news report. “I don’t want to harass the chancellor or anything. I just want to talk about reality here.” Last year, she said 960,000 furs were sold compared to 6 million furs in 1988.
