Environment Committee on May 7th, 2015

[Lynda Yonge]

It varies by species. Every year we set up a research and monitoring program for the year, depending on what the highest priorities are at that time. Right now for us it's caribou. For the last two years, we will have spent over $1.5 million to monitor the caribou. Because it is a high-priority species, we do a lot of work there.

We work very closely with Canada on polar bears, and we do have a program in place through which we monitor one population at a time, because it is very logistically difficult and expensive.

We do some monitoring of boreal caribou. Assistance with that kind of work would be helpful. We monitor our bison population. We have monitoring programs in place for most harvested species.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thank you, Ms. Leslie.

We do have Mr. Sopuck on the list.

Ms. Leslie, we will come back to you if you have further questions, if we have time.

Go ahead, Mr. Sopuck.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

I have a fairly simple and direct question I'd like each witness to take a stab at.

This is the first time the environment and sustainable development committee has ever undertaken a study like this about licensed hunting and trapping. Why is a study like this important?

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Let's proceed with the Northwest Territories answering first, and then we'll move down in the same order we had you do your opening statements.

Mr. Walz, you and any of your partners can start, and then we'll hear from Mr. Tramburg and Mr. Brecht.

[Evan Walz]

I think this is very important because of the place that hunting and trapping have in the Northwest Territories and the linkages that hunting and trapping have to aboriginal culture and to a way of life. We talked earlier about how sometimes we look only at the dollars and cents. Hunting and trapping in the NWT go well beyond that. You don't do this sort of work, certainly not trapping, to get rich. This is a way to maintain a lifestyle. It's a way to maintain a culture. It's even a way to maintain language, to a certain extent.

Earlier, Jamie talked about our Take a Kid Trapping program, and there was some interest in that. We can talk about some of the programs our department provides to help support and bolster that, but the Cabela's representative often spoke from a personal perspective. I too have a son here in school, and the exposure the students are given as a result of being close to this culture is amazing. It's really helpful. The exposure they're given and the knowledge they draw from that is really useful. That helps provide a perspective that we might not otherwise be able to offer. That is why this is so important to us, and I think the work of this committee is important.

One thing I would highlight, if I might, is the difference between our jurisdiction and others. I mentioned it earlier in my presentation. We have very few licensed trappers and licensed hunters in the NWT, because we view trapping and hunting as an aboriginal right. Our environment is a little bit different owing to the fact that half or more of our population is from an aboriginal culture.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Go ahead, Mr. Tramburg.

[John Tramburg]

I would sum it up in one statement: we hope that the federal government understands the need and critical nature of committing federal dollars to study and support wildlife conservation and continued education and advancement of outdoor activities across generations, specifically through youth programs. If this is important to us today, it has to be important for us tomorrow.

In answer to the earlier question on how the federal government could help, it would be through committing those dollars to conservation and education, particularly around our youth.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

I think maybe Ms. Yonge wanted to add a word, so we'll go to Mr. Brecht and then back to the Northwest Territories.

[Darin Brecht]

I'll follow the honourable witness from the Northwest Territories.

Dollars and cents aside, it's purely from a cultural perspective and from a family unit perspective. If the federal government doesn't pay more attention to this and move it up the slate, shall we say, there really is not going to be much left for all of us, let alone our kids and the next few generations. Going back to a personal perspective, hunting, trapping, and fishing are part of our history, our roots. There are too many distractions out there that lure us into a different way of life. We have the second-largest country in the world, with a diversity of land: forests, lakes, mountains, prairies, etc. Let's use it and let's keep it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Ms. Yonge, did you want to comment? I thought you might have wanted to jump in on that last question.

[Lynda Yonge]

I just wanted to make a similar comment, from a Canadian perspective. There's been a lot of talk about climate change. I mentioned that habitat loss wasn't as big an issue for us here, but that's only because we've been lucky so far. People only care about things they know, and if we want to make sure we maintain our wilderness areas and maintain viable ecosystems, people have to know what they are. Hunting and trapping and fishing are a way of getting people out there so they understand what's out there and how important it is. Then maybe people will care about it and make changes. From a national perspective, that's very important.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

We have one more Conservative member who'd like to ask a question or asked for a short statement earlier.

I do have time for that, and then we'll go back, because I let some of our others go over a bit.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

I just wanted to offer the question around the federal role to both Mr. Tramburg and Mr. Brecht, but they've touched on it, so I'm good, thanks.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

We'll go back to Mr. Carrie.

I think you're sharing your time, Mr. Carrie.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Yes.

We've heard about and we've been talking about what the government's role is. I'd like to ask the witnesses from Northwest Territories a question, because I understand that hunting regulations were recently passed in the territory, which included lowering the minimum age for hunters and reducing the residency requirement.

I think you touched on the residency part of a hunting licence in your opening statement. I'm curious: Why did you deem these changes necessary and what's been the response? And actually, what is the minimum age now for hunters?

[Lynda Yonge]

Thank you for that question.

The change in the minimum age was driven by the desire of both outfitters and resident hunters to take their children hunting at an earlier age. The minimum age to get a hunting licence in the territories is now 12. You need to have parental consent and you have to be accompanied by an adult hunter when you're hunting. But we also made a change so that a licensed hunter or anybody who is authorized to hunt in the territories can take somebody who's under 18 out hunting with them. The youth does not have to have their own licence, but if there is a bag limit, they have to share the bag limit of the adult hunter. Those changes were made very specifically to remove the barriers to people being able to take their children out with them.

I'd also like to add that our new Wildlife Act, which came in last November, was developed through a collaborative process with our aboriginal partners, our comanagement partners. They had a strong desire to encourage people to get out on the land and to take their kids out with them, the same way aboriginal people can do here.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

All right.

I was curious. How does your government educate hunters on best practices, and how do you engage local communities on the importance of hunting?

[Jamie Chambers]

We're working on a hunter education program right now. It's in the developmental stages. It is a requirement of our new Wildlife Act that new residents and first-time hunters take the training. More than that, we're trying to make it so that all harvesters, young and old.... It's shared across the territories. Even people who wouldn't have to take it by legislation have told us that they want the training for their youth, so we're developing the program collaboratively with our comanagement partners and aboriginal governments, and we're hoping it's going to be a very inclusive and well-received hunter education program. It's just in the developmental stage right now.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Okay.

How have past animal rights campaigns affected trapping in the Northwest Territories? Have there been lawsuits, or are campaigns a costly thing for the government or local people to have to fight? How have these animal rights campaigns affected trapping in the Northwest Territories?

[Lynda Yonge]

I think the biggest impact for us came from the changes in the EU and the requirement for humane trapping methods. That was a big expense. All of our trappers are now using humane traps. That meant a complete shift for people in how they carried out their trapping.

Other than that, there's been a lot of work done on marketing our furs. There was a question earlier about the role of the federal government in testing traps and marketing traps. They've been very effective in maintaining that market for us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

I think that comes to the end of the questions by our committee members unless I see someone else wanting to ask a question.

Thank you to our witnesses for appearing by video conference. You were very helpful witnesses indeed. Thank you very much for taking the time.

[Evan Walz]

Thank you.

[John Tramburg]

Thanks for the opportunity.

[Darin Brecht]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

The bells will be ringing shortly. The meeting is adjourned.