Good Afternoon…

Good Afternoon.

I have anxiously waited until this near last day for submissions because I really thought or hoped that there would be a press release stating the MNRF people responsible for these proposed regulation changes have come to realize that these changes are monumental for the average person in Ontario who uses bait while fishing. As a member of the Local Citizens Advisory Committee I was fortunate enough to receive a presentation of the proposed changes from Steven Bobrowicz, a Senior Fisheries Biologist with the MNRF out of Thunder Bay, Ont. I am a retired Customs Officer and have worked in several locations throughout Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba, and much of that work was related to enforcement of federal regulations. As you can imagine, during my 37 year career I have sat through countless presentations on every regulation under federal auspices, and I want to clearly state that the presentation by Mr. Bobrowicz was one of the best. He knew his stuff and he talked to the committee on a personal level and his presentation was fantastic. While I did not agree with some of the info he was telling us, I must again state that having this man as a presenter was fantastic. That being said, I have a hard time accepting the rationale behind some of the decisions by the MNRF. Firstly, in answer to a question, we were told that this program is being spearheaded by two senior MNRF people from Peterborough. My automatic reaction to this is to take those 2 people away from this project and then ask ourselves if we still have a problem. Is this whole project simply an "empire building" project to ensure they have jobs for many years to come? We were explained the rationale behind the proposed changes, but most of the problems are down in southern Ontario, so deal with them first, not up here in God's country. I understand why they want to make the changes and I personally agree with some of the proposals, but you don't kill a whole way of life up here, in God's country, by bringing in changes like the ones proposed. We have a problem with moving invasive species down in southern Ontario. Deal with that first and then tackle the rest of the province. The biggest single problem I can see is the dividing lines between fisheries management areas.

It makes absolutely no sense to have a dividing line along the Graham Road.

From the viewpoint of a Conservation Officer, an easily enforceable line is golden. You're either on one side of the like or the other. Black and White. Easy Peasy. But the reason you've proposed these changes is to protect the fishery in certain watersheds, so that is where the line dividing the fisheries zones should be. Yes the CO's would like a clear line, but this entire province and country are governed by "lines on the map" so that reason doesn't hold water. Every CO and every Federal Officer carries a GPS while conducting enforcement activities to see if a person is or is not where they should be. The watershed line nearest this part of the province is near the town of "Raith" on the trans-Canada highway. That is the logical area for the border. By having the proposed line along the Graham Road you are creating a whole new generation of people who will be breaking your laws. My past experience has taught me that once you create a person who breaks one law then they go on to break others. In a court of law, the case could easily be made that your fisheries management zones should not be where you have proposed.

[Original Comment ID: 209897]