PROTECTION OF GAME AND WILD LIFE = 259 
chief occupation of that immense area, but it is the only 
means of livelihood and existence of the population. Un- 
less the fur trade is maintained an enormous section of the 
Dominion would be rendered unproductive, and the native 
inhabitants would either starve to death or become a charge 
on the government. Such is the significance of our northern 
fur resources, as I have pointed out in another chapter. 
The vital importance also of the barren-ground caribou 
and musk-ox as sources of food and clothing for the people 
of the north has already been emphasized, but cannot be 
reiterated too often. 
The protection of the game and fur-bearing animals and 
other wild life in the Northwest Territories is governed by 
the Northwest Game Act, which underwent a complete re- 
vision in 1917. For a number of years the inadequacy of 
the provisions of the former statute and the necessity of 
more effectual enforcement had become increasingly ap- 
parent to those in touch with the conditions of the wild 
life of the north, and familiar with the factors tending to 
affect adversely its conservation. In 1914 I prepared for the 
Commission of Conservation a memorandum regarding the 
necessity of amending the Northwest Game Act, 1906, 
having particular reference to the greater protection of the 
musk-ox and barren-ground caribou. A second memoran- 
dum on this subject was prepared in 1916, and, as a result 
of further recommendations made, the Commission at its 
annual meeting that year* passed a resolution urging the 
amendment of the Northwest Game Act, 1906, with a view 
to meeting the changed conditions and to securing adequate 
protection to the game and fur-bearing animals of the north, 
particularly on account of their economic importance. Soon 
after the creation of the Advisory Board on Wild Life Pro- 
tection the revision of this act was undertaken, and a 
* Seventh Annual Report, Commission of Conservation, 1916, pp. 32-38 and 
218. 
