FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 21, 2013
QUEEN’S PARK – The partial return of the spring bear hunt is a step in the right direction, according to Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett.
Last week the Ministry of Natural Resources announced a plan that would see a spring hunt in areas with the highest human-bear conflicts with the approval of municipal councils in those areas. The two-year pilot program would allow a season from May 1 to June 15 under ministry control in Wildlife Management Units near Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Sudbury.
“I am pleased to see the ministry embrace our strategy and give northerners and northern municipalities their say in wildlife management decisions which directly affect them,” Opposition MNR Critic Jerry Ouellette said.
Barrett agreed this is a step in the right direction.
“Allowing partial reinstatement of the hunt is a start,” Barrett said. “But I also advocate non-residents be allowed to participate in the hunt as this was the base for the spring hunt related tourism industry.
Barrett, a former Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources, indicated that bear hunt and nuisance bear issues dominated calls to the Minister’s office at the time. Barrett has long advocated a spring bear hunt to manage the nuisance bear issue.
All Canadian provinces with bears have a spring hunt except Nova Scotia.
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For more information contact
MPP Toby Barrett at 519-428-0446