CULTURE
COVER:
Thomas
King: Canada's Native Writer Tells His Story
BIOGRAPHY:
John
Trudell: Warrior-Poet Waxes on Bone Days
Margaret
Vickers: The Hand of Change
BUSINESS:
Casino
of the Rockies
Historic Milestone for Rambots Construction
CULTURE:
Grizzly
Bears Under the Gun - Again
EDUCATION:
A
Gathering of the Elders
ENVIRONMENT:
Government
of Quebec seeks to Divide Cree Nation and Foster Genocide
HISTORY:
Thomas
Prince: Canada's Forgotten Aboriginal War Hero
HUMOUR:
Bee in the Bonnet: Drum Beaters
POLITICS:
Civic
Aboriginal Leader First to Run for City Hall
Grizzly
Bears Under the Gun - Again
By Staff Writers
A government-sanctioned trophy
hunt for grizzly bears in the province of BC commenced September 1st,
despite growing evidence that the hunt is unsustainable and growing opposition
from the public.
On July 16, 2001, just one month after he was sworn in, Premier Gordon
Campbell, overturned a three year province-wide moratorium on the sport
hunt of grizzly bears announced by the previous NDP government in February
2001.
In its place, the Liberal government announced a number of regional moratoriums
and the formation of a scientific review panel established under the Ministry
of Water, Land and Air Protection (MWLAP). In the press release of the
day, the Liberal government announced that MLWAP biologists confirmed
the existence of "at least 13,000 grizzly bears in British Columbia."
The
Grizzly Bear Scientific Panel is charged with reviewing methods currently
used to estimate grizzly bar populations as well as issues relevant to
grizzly bear conservation such as clear cut logging. The panel will make
its final report to government by December 31, 2002.
Just last month, a July 2002, an internal discussion paper entitled Atrophy
in British Columbia Bear Management was leaked to The Vancouver Sun,
in which a MWLAP biologist from Terrace, BC, warned that the BC Liberal
government could be jeopardizing all wildlife management in the province
by continuing to support the annual grizzly bear hunt.
MWLAP biologist Dionys de Leeuw, said that the negative impact of grizzly
hunting has on all hunting in the province could damage genuine public
support for all wildlife conservation.
de Leeuw, warned that because the government ignored widespread public
opposition against the grizzly hunt, the public may become cynical and
ignore all government initiatives on behalf of wildlife, no matter how
well-intentioned.
"In North America, the purpose of wildlife management has traditionally
been to provide game for hunters and BC is no exception. In the case of
grizzly bears, any management of this species will be increasingly regarded
by the vast majority as only providing animals for a miniscule number
of hunters to participate in a contemptible sport.
"Viewed in this way, continuation of the trophy hunt may have the
unfortunate consequence of grizzly management atrophying. Why should anyone
support a wildlife management regime that encourages an activity the vast
majority find repugnant?
"At a time when government spending is at an all-time low, any further
decrease in public support will spell doom for all wildlife management,
including management and protection of grizzlies." wrote de Leeuw.
Inconclusive data
In an earlier paper, de Leeuw, cites inconsistencies in government data
that estimates grizzly bear populations at 5,000 to 8,000 in 1972, to
6,000 to 7,000 in 1979, and 10,000 to 13,000 in 1995, without any credible
scientific explanation to support the population estimates.
In his latest report, de Leeuw, said that by defending the grizzly hunt,
the government and hunters are "actively working against all hunting"
and tarnishing British Columbia's international reputation.
"All the BC public … will be held in contempt 'by association'
for participating in a society that continues to allow this hunt.
It is like supporting bear or tiger baiting, dog or bull fights, and other
abusive animal entertainments.
"We will be viewed as a culture that both condones reprehensible
abuse of animals, and is unable to accommodate the interests of the majority
who justifiably want to change that abuse."
A grizzly controversy
A 2001 Compas poll found that
76 per cent of all British Columbians, including 78 per cent of Liberal
voters, support a moratorium on grizzly sport hunting.
The hunt, which commenced last fall, kills about 300 bears per year.
It's quite the little controversy.
On December 3, 2001, after an 18-month inquiry, Information and Privacy
Commissioner David Loukidelis, ordered that MWLAP, the BC biodiversity
ministry, must release precise grizzly kill location data to Raincoast
Conservation Society.
Loukidelis ruled that MWLAP had not established that releasing the data
"could reasonably be expected to damage grizzly bears or interfere
with their conservation."
Going beyond simply ordering the information released the Commissioner
commented on the ministry's underlying motivation to object "to disclosure
on the basis that the disputed information will be used to publicly criticize
the work of the Ministry."
Raincoast wants to submit the data to a panel of independent scientists
so they could use it to review the hunt on what Raincoast said would be
an impartial manner.
Raincoast, a non profit organization promoting research and public information
with the goal of protecting the Great Bear Rainforest to ensure the long-term
survival of coastal ecosystems and their dependant life forms such as
grizzly bears and wild salmon.
Raincoast has been fighting the provincial government for years over precise
location kill data for years, arguing that government data is inconclusive
and real estimates of the grizzly bear population range from 4,000 to13,000
bears.
On November 29, 2001, days before Commissioner Loukidelis ordered MWLAP
to release the data to Raincoast, the European Union (EU) banned the import
of grizzly bear hunt trophies from BC, citing that the hunt was unsustainable.
The fifteen EU countries leading wildlife experts had been reviewing BC
grizzly management regime and found that the hunt was unsustainable as
a species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITIES).
Over 50 per cent grizzlies killed in BC are shot by foreign hunters with
35 per cent of European origin and the species is officially classed "at
risk" throughout its dwindling range in Canada.
Then on January 15, 2002, the BC Liberal government, judicially challenged
the Commissioner's order for the release of the grizzly kill data, on
the heels of the provincial Finance Committee recommendation that the
budget of the over-stretched Commissioner's Office be slashed by 35 per
cent.
The government was joined by the Guide-Outfitters Association of BC, in
the Supreme Court in May to keep exact kill locations. The Liberal government
argues that it wants to keep the information secret to:
- keep anti-hunt activists from disrupting a legal hunt
- encourage hunters to continue to provide information on hunting sites
to the ministry
- prevent poachers from going to sites where bears have reportedly been
killed
But in his ruling, Loukidelis
wrote that, "It is entirely appropriate for an applicant - and especially
public interest groups - to exercise the right of access under the [Freedom
of Information] Act in order to obtain information for the purpose of
assessing and criticizing the performance of government."
Raincoast director Chris Genovell commented: "I think clearly the
government have something to hide and they have gone to extra lengths
to keep this information suppressed and secret.
"They are spending taxpayers' dollars on challenging [Loukidelis']
order and that's hypocritical given what the Liberals said during the
election that they would be the most open and transparent government in
Canada."
Raincoast lawyer Randy Christensen said he believes the involvement of
the guide-outfitters is a delaying tactic to keep the data secret for
as long as possible.
"Our concern is the longer this information is delayed, the less
likely it is that the scientific panel will see it."