Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the importance of the fur trade in the Northwest Territories. It is one of the oldest industries here. Mr. Speaker, when the Tetlit Gwich’in began turning from the Klondike ventures, they found that Fort McPherson was not changed much from the gold rush days. The Hudson’s Bay Company post was still the mainstream of the community, even the same Hudson Bay trader was there to welcome them, which was my great-great-grandfather, John Firth, who first arrived in the Peel River country in 1872 and was the chief clerk of Fort McPherson from 1893 to 1919.
Over the next decade, the Gwich’in still spent most of their time in the headwaters of the Peel River and then the Richardson Mountains and heading downstream in their moose skin boats in the spring where they wintered and collected their furs and then basically brought them to Fort McPherson for sale. During World War I, the price of muskrat furs skyrocketed and the Gwich’in began to depend on the livelihood of the fur trade by way of muskrat harvesting in the spring, and also the importance of the Peel River, the Mackenzie Delta and the families of the Gwich’in people. But since then, Mr. Speaker, the industry has continued to sustain itself and the people in our small communities still depend on this industry.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to realize that a lot of the economic spinoffs in regards to the fur trade in our communities is well in the millions of dollars. It still stimulates our communities, especially the hunters and trappers of our communities and especially for the younger generations who still want to maintain that lifestyle. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to realize that this industry is just as important as the diamond industry and as the oil and gas industry and, more importantly, it will be there long after the diamonds are gone and the oil has been depleted, and also that the people will still depend on that lifestyle.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister of ITI questions in regards to what this government is doing to ensure that we have a sustainable industry of the fur trade, which is one of the oldest industries in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
