Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have talked about the trappers in the Northwest Territories. In 2008 and 2009 there were 812 trappers. Of those 812 trappers in that year, 161 were in the Sahtu. People in the Sahtu understand the high cost of living, and trapping is a business. There is a market out there with the Russians and Chinese, who all want northern furs for their own product. Trapping is a business.
I want to ask the Minister of ITI, with the recent increase of petroleum products in the Northwest Territories, especially in the Sahtu where there is gas, trappers are asking if there’s any type of initiative that would help them go out to their traplines to continue supplying the high demand for northern furs.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for raising the concern over the trappers. It is something that the department is reacting to and something we’ve heard. We’ve addressed that and have $1.1 million that we earmarked through the Community Harvesters Assistance Program. Also $610,000 on an annual basis to the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur program.
I must say, the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur program is a unique program in this country. No other jurisdiction in this country offers a program like that that encourages and supports trappers getting out on the land. Last year we had sales of just over $1.5 million in furs. The Member mentioned it in his statement that demand is high in places like China and Russia. We’re getting top dollar for our furs and we are providing supports to the trappers to get them out to harvest those furs.
Trapping is a unique skill, and to be a trapper requires a lot of hard work, a lot of smarts, a lot of heart. I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in his role as the Minister, to look at if there is a type of discussion happening within his department to support the trappers and to initiate a type of apprenticeship program for the young trappers that want to come out to be a trapper. That is an honourable position that should be supported, and I commend this government for doing all it can to help these trappers.
Is there any type of discussion happening within the Department of ITI to have a sort of conference that would look at trapping as an honourable job that any young school kid can get into?
The department fully appreciates the role that the traditional economy plays, and that of trapping. We do have a program like the Take a Kid Trapping program. I mentioned it in the House earlier during this session that we’ve had 12,000 young people across the Northwest Territories go through the Take a Kid Trapping program. It’s been very successful. That’s how we’re going to get young people interested in trapping here in the Northwest Territories.
I mentioned the $1.5 million in fur sales. That’s money that goes directly back into the small communities and the local economies in those small communities. It’s something we support. It has a place in the economy here in the Northwest Territories, and we will continue to provide support to trappers across the Northwest Territories.
I’ve always supported the take the youth trapping. As I said, a young lad in Colville Lake, when we asked the young kids what they want to be and some were saying nurses and doctors and teachers, this young guy spoke up and said I want to be a trapper. That tells you that trapping is alive and well in the Northwest Territories, especially in our small communities. It’s an honourable position.
I want to ask the Minister, through the Take a Kid Trapping program, is that like an apprenticeship program where kids can apply for an apprenticeship to learn under the professors in the university of life on the land. Is that a program that is being looked at by this government?
Definitely, the Take a Kid Trapping program is where the seeds are sown for young trappers to learn the skills required to get into the trapping business. Last year in the Northwest Territories we had 706 active trappers that participated in the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur program. It’s an active industry here and it’s one, again, that we need to encourage young people across the Northwest Territories and those that are skilled in the trapping trade to take some kids under their wing and show them how to trap, how to get out on the land. That’s something that should happen in all the small communities.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other part of being a trapper is to be a businessman, entrepreneur. Are there any courses that are offered to trappers, say, in the off-trapping season where they learn to be a businessman, thinking on their feet and thinking quick, in terms of how to put together a budget, what things they need and what tools they would need to be a successful business person? Is there any type of trapping business program we can offer the trappers off-season, so they can prepare for the fall season when the trapping opens up again?
We have very knowledgeable staff not only here in headquarters but in the regions. If trappers have some need for getting questions answered on how to conduct their business affairs, we’d have information available for trappers in that regard, and it’s something that we’d look to support trappers. We have courses on trapping and I can certainly bring this up with the department and perhaps the next time we put on a session we could look at offering some course work on how to operate it as a business. That may be something that’s useful, and I thank the Member for his suggestion.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
