Northwest Territories

H

Conservation

Conservation combines two ideas: using resources wisely and protecting the environment. In the Northwest Territories the federal and territorial governments often share these responsibilities. Since the 1970s the federal government has transferred many powers to the Northwest Territories. For example, the territorial government manages forestry, renewable resources, and wildlife, while the federal government administers land, national parks, and nonrenewable resources such as oil and gas. The Northwest Territories has four national parks: Aulavik, Nahanni, Tuktut Nogait, and Wood Buffalo. In the case of Wood Buffalo National Park in the southern part of the territory, the federal government designed the park to conserve the bison while also providing game for local Indians and Métis.

The federal government is also responsible for the protection of the environment. However, the federal government has chosen to share management of the environment with indigenous groups that have reached modern land claims agreements with the government. Modern land claims involve indigenous peoples surrendering their claim to a vast territory in exchange for certain benefits, including cash and title to a portion of that vast territory.

The Northwest Territories has problems with pollution in three main forms: local, global, and relic. Local pollution, such as garbage and sewage, affects settlements and has contaminated water supplies in some communities. In global pollution, global air and ocean circulation systems carry pollutants to the north from distant industrial centers in southern Canada and the United States. Relic pollution comes from toxic materials dumped in the ground years ago that are only now causing health problems. The worst sites of relic pollution are abandoned military bases and Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar sites that the United States built during the Cold War to provide warning in case of an attack on North America. In both cases, toxic wastes were dumped into nearby lagoons and lakes.

Since these northern lands are easily harmed by development projects, including road construction and oil exploration, companies must follow strict federal regulations. The federal department of the environment is responsible for enforcing national environmental legislation, for providing oil spill response, and for assessing environmental impacts. Environmental regulations are particularly important in the Arctic, where the fragile tundra vegetation, wildlife, and permafrost are easily disturbed.

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III

Economic Activities

The economy of the Northwest Territories is based on nonrenewable resources. The territorial economy is small, contributing less than 1 percent to the Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) in 1996. The small size of the economy and the high cost of delivering services to the residents of the Northwest Territories means that the federal government must provide around 90 percent of the territorial government’s budget. In 1999 the Northwest Territories had a budget of C$742 million, of which the federal government provided C$690 million.

Gold was discovered near Yellowknife in the mid-1930s, marking the beginning of the development of nonrenewable resources. Oil, gold, and diamonds are exported to markets in southern Canada, the United States, and other industrial nations. Oil production accounts for 20 percent of the territory’s GDP. Indirectly, these primary industries generate another 20 percent of the GDP by paying for construction work and transportation services. This narrowly based economy is subject to cyclical swings in global demand, making it vulnerable to a boom-and-bust type of economic instability.

In sharp contrast, renewable resources play a minor role, accounting for less than 1 percent of the GDP of the Northwest Territories. Trapping, once the core of the northern economy and the primary source of cash for indigenous peoples, has become much less important. Tourism, on the other hand, is a growing service industry. In 1996 the leading commodities by value were oil, gold, sand and gravel, natural gas, silver, fish, timber, and fur. In 1998 another mineral, diamond, was added to the leading commodities produced in the Northwest Territories.

Northern Canada, including the Northwest Territories, is an expensive place to live. Housing is at least 60 percent more expensive in the north than it is in southern Canada. Food prices are also higher, by at least 20 percent. Since building materials and foodstuffs are imported from the south, the higher prices are primarily due to transportation costs. Communities far away from Yellowknife have higher costs, and communities served only by aircraft have the highest food and housing costs. For example, foodstuffs shipped by air to remote communities such as Sachs Harbour on Banks Island are 80 percent more expensive than they are in Yellowknife. To offset these high food and housing costs, wages are higher than those in southern Canada. In addition, most people live in public or staff housing, where rents are subsidized. Government employees living in remote communities receive an isolated-post allowance payment to help offset the higher cost of living.

A

Employment and Labor

The labor force in the Northwest Territories is made up of about 18,000 people. This labor force is divided into three parts: primary (mainly oil production and mining), secondary (processing and construction activities), and tertiary (government and private firms providing services to the public). The largest employer is the tertiary sector (82 percent), followed by the primary (16 percent) and then the secondary sector (2 percent). The federal, territorial, and local governments employ about half of the service workers, and others are employed by private businesses such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and transportation firms. In 1996 the unemployment rate in the Northwest Territories was 12 percent, but this figure does not reflect wide variations by community. Lower rates occur in the larger towns and mining centers, and higher rates exist in smaller settlements, especially those inhabited mainly by indigenous peoples.

B

Agriculture

Agriculture is almost nonexistent in the Northwest Territories. Except for a few small vegetable gardens south of Great Slave Lake, there is no commercial agriculture. The reason is simple: The Northwest Territories has an extremely cold environment, making agriculture extremely difficult and costly. As a result, the north is a food deficit region. Almost all food products available in northern stores are imported from southern Canada, with the main exceptions being locally caught fish and game. Indigenous families continue to consume large quantities of fish and game that they obtain by fishing and hunting. This food is known as country food.

C

Fisheries

Most commercial fishing takes place on Great Slave Lake. The main commercial species are lake trout, whitefish, and pickerel; other fish caught include arctic char, arctic grayling, and northern pike. People sell these fish to the federally operated Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, which sells them to retail stores across Canada and the United States.

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