The Spring Bear Hunt results…

The Spring Bear Hunt results in orphaned bear cubs. There is no denying this - wildlife rehabilitators can attest that some hunters make mistakes and kill mothers with cubs even though regulations were designed to prevent this from happening.

In 1999, the Conservative government cancelled the spring bear hunt in recognition that we can't put a price on any number of cubs that starve or die of exposure after being orphaned due to government regulations. Indeed, protecting wildlife should be at the heart of any management plan or action.

I oppose your proposal to reinstate the hunt permanently. However, I do agree that non-residents and their relatives should not be given special opportunities to hunt and I agree that the hunt should be restricted where bear populations are suffering, including in the Bruce Peninsula area.

Black bear management needs to focus on reducing human-bear conflicts by investing in coexistence education. Ontarians and tourists can safely share the landscape with black bears and other carnivores; we only need to make sure we have the resources to teach them how.

This spring hunt is cruel and inhuman. We don't have a bear problem, we have a people problem. People who think they know bears but in reality know nothing about bears.

I strongly believe we can co-exist bears if we educate ourselves.

So let's understand bears. They are gentle, intelligent creatures that shouldn't be disposed of. They need our protection.