FISH, FOREST AND GAME PROTECTION IN QUEBEC. 



By Hon. Honore Mercier, 

 Minister of Colonization, Mines and Fisheries, Quebec, Canada. 



I esteem it a great privilege to take part in the proceedings 

 of this convention and to profit by the experiences of the many 

 here assembled who are distinguished authorities upon the subject 

 of conservation in general and fish and game in particular. Many 

 of you come from states where the lack of proper conservation in 

 the past necessitates the propagation of game as well as its pro- 

 tection, and all of us understand that present failure to protect 

 what game we have must soon result in its complete disappearance. 

 The extinction of the great auk, of the wild pigeon and the wild 

 buffalo are constant reminders of the duty imposed upon us, of 

 passing on to those who shall come after us, the rich supply of 

 fur, fin and feather which has come down to us from former 

 generations. Even in the vast Northern wild lands of the country 

 from which I come, and in the far northwest of Canada, as well as 

 in its far northeast, conservation is the duty of the hour, and 

 active measures are essential to restrain the greed of gain from 

 playing havoc with the remaining fauna of our northland. 



Let me occupy a few moments of your time in telling you of 

 some of the problems which confront me and the officers of my 

 Department and of just a few of the natural conditions of our 

 province; a province which has some claims upon your con- 

 sideration, not only because of the very great numbers of sports- 

 men from these United States who go there for their fishing and 

 hunting, but because of the vast numbers of your game birds 

 which have their breeding grounds there. 



The Province of Quebec, today, occupies just double the 

 territory of the Quebec of five years ago. Prior to 1912, it had 

 an area of 351,873 square miles. In that year, all the territory 

 of the mainland of North America to the north of our then northern 

 boundary, extending to Ungava Bay and Hudson Straits, having 

 a superficies of 351,780 square miles, was annexed to our province, 

 giving us a total area of 730,653 square miles, or over four hundred 

 and fifty millions of acres. In other words, we have now a province 



