Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On October 8 I talked about the importance of traditional foods and how the high cost of living is impacting the practice of harvesting traditional foods. I would like to follow up my statement today with questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House what programs, if any, this department currently has in place to assist subsistence hunters, not trappers, with traditional harvesting activities?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has recognized the importance of traditional harvesting activities for some time now, and we do have a number of programs in place. Over the course of the past ten years or so we also had the Western Harvesters’ Assistance Program, which is a $15 million matching program that is available to every aboriginal government organization in the Northwest Territories. We do also have the Harvesters’ Assistance Program, a total of $1.5 million, which includes funding for local wildlife committees, Community Harvesters’ Assistance Program and Harvesters’ Disaster Compensation. We also have the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur program, which provides assistance to trappers, and, of course, the Take a Kid Trapping program, which introduces youth to living off the land.
Mr. Speaker, this is fairly specific. I am talking about hunters. The high cost of gas is having a huge impact on many families, and the traditional practice of harvesting traditional foods from the land is being threatened. Would the Minister commit to looking at how the department can assist subsistence hunters to offset the high cost of gasoline as soon as possible?
Mr. Speaker, we do have the Community Harvesters’ Assistance Program, which can be used for deferring some of the costs of living off the land. I do know that the last time there were any changes to the program was at least three or four governments ago. So I will be quite prepared to review this area.
Mr. Speaker, I’m glad the Minister is prepared to review this policy. The high price of gas is having an immediate impact on our harvesters. We have mineral exploration resource development, hydro expansion, tourism; even global warming has an impact on wildlife. My Tu Nedhe riding is being hit from all sides. I would like to ask the Minister if he will commit during the review to help develop a traditional harvester strategy for Tu Nedhe communities.
Mr. Speaker, I do know that in the past we have worked with the community of Tu Nedhe to develop a community development strategy. There are lots of resources around Tu Nedhe in areas such as wildlife, forestry and so on, so we’d be quite prepared to work with the community to develop such a strategy.
