Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are with regard to the outstanding trappers we have in the Sahtu and ITI’s program. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Robert Kochon of Colville Lake had the highest sales in trapping and also the highest pelts in trapping. What is this Minister of ITI doing in terms of supporting our way of life in the Sahtu, especially with trappers like Mr. Kochon? What are the programs he has to support this way of life?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of ITI has a long history of programs to support harvesters and trappers so that they can have a choice when it comes to maintaining a way of life. Certainly we have a number of programs, totaling in the neighbourhood of $2 million, that would help support the traditional economy and, certainly, as anybody involved in sports knows, the future depends on getting youth involved and we’ve invested a lot, along with our many, many partners such as Education, Culture and Employment, MACA, industry and so on, into our Take a Kid Trapping program to introduce a significant amount of children into the outdoors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister McLeod alluded to the Youth Trapping Program. I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of strengthening the Youth Trapping Program, is that part of the educational curriculum for young trappers in the Northwest Territories? Speaking to young trappers in Colville Lake, Mr. Samuel Oudzi, who was the youth trapper in that community in the Sahtu region, would he be able to continue to have that type of opportunity to put trapping as part of his educational curriculum?
We’ve had a long partnership with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and working with the schools and curriculum so that we could introduce school children to trapping, because it’s been not only my view but the view of a lot of people in the education system that this lifestyle and ability to go out and earn a living off the land is something that fosters a lot of qualities that help children become successful in later life. Attributes like decision-making, leadership qualities and high levels of self-esteem have been associated with Take a Kid Trapping. Certainly if you look at Colville Lake where they have a school function to travel abroad, they had very limited opportunities for fundraising. So the school children, along with their principal, took it upon themselves to raise money by trapping and they were very successful in being able to raise funds that would go towards their trip.
Also, I think every school program in every community has a program to introduce school children to on-the-land activities. We have been working very closely with the teachers, and not only the Department of ITI, but wildlife officers from ENR have worked very closely with the teachers and certainly even the education system, the DEAs and so on, have teachers or educators that are dedicated to this kind of activity. So we recognize it’s a very important role for us to play and we work very closely with the education system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Gabe Kochon was chosen as senior trapper in the Sahtu region. Gabe Kochon is one solid trapper. I want to ask the Minister, with regard to trapping for seniors, are there some programs dedicated to seniors like Gabe Kochon to continue that way of life?
As I said, we have a significant number of programs. One of the most successful ones we had was the Western Harvesters Assistance Program where we partnered with all the aboriginal governments so that trappers could make some capital investments such as buying equipment and so forth. I think there is only one or two communities left that still haven’t accessed that program.
With regard to seniors, certainly we talk quite a bit about our SEED program, our Strategic Environmental Economic Development program. We have programs in there under small business and micro business where people are making a living on the land or can access these programs, so they can get access to small amounts of money that would allow them to continue their activities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member to ask a final, short supplementary question.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, trapping is a strong life, it’s a good life. It’s a life that people certainly enjoy. I would ask if the Minister would work with his Cabinet colleagues to see how we can look at trapping in terms of how to get food into our communities and our local stores and start opening a discussion on how to support trappers in a lifelong passion to practice their way of life.
This is something that we are committed to and I think the whole Cabinet is committed to, so we will continue to work with all regions and all communities so that people will continue to be able to make a choice so they can practice a way of life and continue to do so for some time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
