The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.
Councillor calls for return of spring bear hunt
Northerners are voicing their unbearable stress towards the provincial government’s latest approach to problem bruins. The MNR has dropped responsibilities for nuisance bears on private property. The buck has been passed to Ontario Provincial Police and local police services.
Coun. John Curley is outraged with the recent letter from Natural Resources Deputy Minister David O’Toole. The letter was revealed to Timmins council at Monday night’s regular meeting.
It stated the recent changes came about as part of the Transformation Plan announced in the 2012 Ontario Budget. The plan was a review of how government programs delivered services to Ontarians, which includes eight-year existing Bear Wise program/
In his letter, O’Toole admitted the relocation of black bears was not as effective compared to other MNR bear handling strategies.
“Trapping and relocating has always been our least effective tool to manage problem bears, with research showing that many relocated bears simply return to the area from where they were removed,” he said in the letter. “The ministry will continue to support the Ontario Provincial Police and local police services in responding to emergency situations.
“However, moving forward, we will no longer provide individual site visits to help landowners who are having site-specific conflicts with bears, and the ministry will no longer trap and relocate problem bears.
“Responsibility for managing human-bear conflicts continues to be shared between the province and local governments. The investments municipalities make in bear wise strategies, whether it’s a public awareness campaign or bear-resistant waste management infrastructure, will result in long-term savings and cleaner, safer and healthier communities.
“Going forward, the ministry will continue to provide advice and support to municipalities on how to manage bears, as we do for other wildlife species.”
Coun. Curley took a trip down memory lane and remembered what it was like in his younger days, enjoying activities in nature, out in the bush. He blames the government for the increase in problem bears.
“As time went on, bears are not as fearful as they used to be of humans and more comfortable coming out of the bush and into our neighbourhoods,” he said. “The MNR has come out and said the only reason bears are coming out, are because of people’s garbage being put out, feeding birds, or having apple trees – well that was simply not the case.
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