Dear Premier Wynne c.c…

Dear Premier Wynne
c.c. Ontario MPP's

Our family is appalled by your decision to allow a Spring Bear Hunt in Ontario. For us this is both a political and a moral issue.

The Conservatives, under Mike Harris, cancelled the Spring Bear Hunt 15 years ago because of the extreme cruelty in leaving hundreds of tiny orphaned bear cubs to die a slow death of starvation. How can your government possibly justify reinstating this throwback to another era?

We find it hard to believe that you are unaware of the following facts:

* Attracting bears with food bait when they are coming out of hibernation and obviously very hungry to be easily picked off by a hunter sitting in a nearby tree blind is hardly hunting, rather it is target practice.

* Your government states that "it will remain illegal to kill a female bear with cubs". This assurance is disingenuous given that it's rare to be able to see a bear's genitals or lactating teats from a tree blind at a distance. Furthermore, mother bears approaching a food source where there may be other bears send their cubs into hiding before approaching the bait.

* It was why, in 1999, the Spring Bear Hunt was cancelled when MNR staff revealed that over 270 bear cubs were orphaned each year and left to starve to death as a direct result of the hunt. A former MNR staff member indicates that this number is low and that it was more likely closer to 1,000 cubs that died.

* Your government indicates that there has been an increase in the black bear population and that Ontario is home to a healthy and sustainable bear population. In fact, the black bear population has not increased. To the contrary, the 2007 Annual Report of the Auditor General of Ontario conveys that 'despite the cancellation of the Spring Bear Hunt in 1999, government bear hunting data show that bear populations are likely not being maintained at sustainable levels and that every year, hunters kill more female bears than allowed by law'.

* In attempting to justify the Spring Bear Hunt, you have stated that "public safety is paramount and Ontarians should feel safe in their communities". If, in fact, your real concern is public safety, you would acknowledge the studies that have conclusively shown that the greater number of bears killed, the greater number of human-bear conflicts and complaints. A report by Dr. Edward A. Tavss of Rutgers University http://www.bearsmart.com/docs/Tavss-v4.pdf on a dozen communities across North America included data from Ontario which shows that there has been a bear hunt every year in this province, with generally increasing numbers of bears killed annually, and a corresponding increase in the number of complaints.

* On the other hand, the report shows where jurisdictions have implemented conflict prevention and education strategies, there has been a significant decrease in bear conflicts and complaints. The Elliot Lake Ontario community is one such example. The year before public education and bear resistant containers were introduced, there were 500 nuisance bears and three shootings. Using the Bear Wise model program, in 2004 this was reduced to 87 nuisance bears and no shootings.

* Given these results, we are shocked that your government has abandoned the Bear Wise Program and instead plans to use an inhumane, ineffectual and highly controversial lethal approach to bear management in Ontario. Our consternation is shared by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario in his 2012-13 Report where he criticizes the gutting of the Bear Wise program, a program which successfully reduced human/bear conflicts.

Policy must derive from logic and compassion, not political opportunism. We urge you to cancel the ill-conceived plan for a Spring Bear Hunt and immediately re-instate all elements of the highly-effective Bear Wise program.

I look forward to your response to these concerns and your assurance that, unlike previous Environmental Bill of Rights consultations conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, this one will be transparent and fair. It will be closely scrutinized.

Sincerely

Derrick