I agree with my honourable colleague, Jeannie Marie-Jewell, about retaining our way of life, especially giving financial support to the hunters and trappers who wish to go out camping and live off the land. This occupation, as most Members in this House will agree, is a healthy occupation. It is environmentally healthy; it is environmentally friendly. It is also cost-efficient to the Government of the NWT.
I would like to explain why it is cheaper for this government to have outpost camps within the Territories. One is that when you are living in the outpost camp, then your dependency on welfare is cut drastically, as the honourable Member has mentioned. Secondly, there are virtually no crimes in outpost camps. Thirdly, there is no structured classroom type of school in the outpost camps. The mother or father should get some type of funding from the government for educating their kids in how to survive living off the land.
As the Minister responsible for Renewable Resources, I support the initiative to have people live off the land. The money that we grant from my department, trappers' incentive grants, the harvesters' assistance program and outpost camp grants -- one of the solutions in solving the problem is to encourage people to live off the land. The money under this program is not sufficient to encourage people to live off the land. As a government, I think different departments should get together to try to come up with initiatives to make sure camping and hunting survival is a means of living. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.