CHAPTER XI 



THE PROTECTION OF GAME AND WILD LIFE BY 

 THE DOMINION GOVERNMENT 



Owing to the fact that the protection of game and wild 

 life in the various provinces has been undertaken by the re- 

 spective provincial governments, the Dominion Govern- 

 ment, with certain exceptions that will be mentioned, has 

 confined its jurisdiction to the protection of the game and 

 fur-bearing animals and other wild life in the Northwest 

 Territories and the Yukon Territory. The exceptions are 

 the protection of migratory birds under the Migratory 

 Birds Convention, and the protection of the wild life in the 

 national parks. 



The Dominion legislation governing the protection of 

 game and wild life comprises the Northwest Game Act, the 

 Yukon Game Ordinance, the Migratory Birds Convention 

 Act, and the Dominion Parks Act. The legislation is ad- 

 ministered by the Minister of the Interior, and the Com- 

 missioner of Dominion Parks is charged with the enforce- 

 ment of the provisions of these enactments, with the excep- 

 tion of the Yukon Game Ordinance, which comes under the 

 jurisdiction of the Commissioner of the Yukon. 



NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 



The unorganized Northwest Territories are rich in wild 

 life, as we have already shown, and the fur-bearing animals 

 of the north constitute at the present time the most valu- 

 able natural resource that we are able to utiUze in these 

 vast territories. Throughout those subarctic and arctic 

 regions our fur-bearing animals find an environment emi- 

 nently suited to them, and to the production of furs of the 

 highest grade. The fur trade of the north is not only the 



258 



