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 fm'-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. 



