From OMNR website. …

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019-1112

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44581

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From OMNR website. "Conservation officers patrol lakes, trails and back roads of Ontario to protect our natural resources and ensure public safety. They are professional, armed peace officers trained to police standards. Their main duties are to: enforce the laws protecting our natural resources." Well we obviously don't have nearly enough. It was the Saskatchewan SIU that discovered the trafficking of Ontario black bears. This was going on since 2017. If COs weren't able to discover this in their own province, how are they going to keep track of hundreds of spring bear hunters. In 2013 when the Ontario pilot spring bear hunt was proposed by the former Liberal govt., I viewed the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website, under Enforcement. I found all the charges laid by the OMNR and convictions from 2007-2012. There were 47 individuals convicted. Many violations go undetected unless the OMNR does a blitz, because there are not enough enforcement officers. In November of 2007 they had 2 blitzes. On one blitz, in Kenora, the OMNR laid 115 charges. In the other, in Bancroft, they laid another 67 charges. These hunters were most likely convicted in 2008. Here are the reasons why 47 hunters were actually convicted. 1. Hunting while intoxicated. 2.Having open liquor in vehicles. 3. Having loaded firearms in vehicles. 4. Shooting down roads. 5. Shooting after dark. 6. Hunting in Provincial Parks. 7. Trespassing and hunting on private property. 8. Shooting from boats, ATV's and vehicles. 9. Not having a hunting licence. 10. Having an unlicensed firearm. 11. Using another hunter's seal. 12. Careless hunting (one hunter was charged with shooting another). 14. Possessing or transporting illegally killed moose or dear (out of season). 14. Illegally hunting bear. 15. Killing of a sow and her cubs. 16. Abandoning killed animals. We need far more oversight than just the occasional blitz.