Being a 32 year employee of…

Being a 32 year employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources has left me with many memories of the Double Crested Cormorant. The first colony I ever say was from the front seat of a Turbo Beaver on a small rocky island in the Grand Traverse Bay area of Lake of the Woods in 1978. They shared the island with White Pelicans. My next observation was in Jarvis Bay south of Thunder Bay on Lake Superior in 1980 when I saw one bird. That to me was a good sign of a recovering species returning. Throughout my career with the MNR I promoted and put in place plans and municipal zoning that protected shoreline habitat in South eastern Lake Superior and the St. Marys River. I watched cormorant populations increase over the years fully understanding that the species success was directly linked to the gap in the ecosystem that was created due to the species previous decline due to the various human chemical inputs into the ecosystem. In my career I was responsible for the creation of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast through Ontario's Living Legacy program (a Conservative initiative I might ad). In that program (1999-2004) I worked with the Georgian Bay Biosphere and the Georgian Bay Association so I understand the "politics of the Bay". Yes, at that time the cormorant populations were a concern. The science was not great and considerations were being made of the how to control or reduce the population in a humane manner.
Today, I do not see any need reduce the population of Double Crested Cormorants as the are now fitting into the nitch they once had in our functional ecosystem. The proposal being considered by the Conservative government in Ontario is a totally unnecessary proposal. It is symptomatic of the "politics of the Bay" which contains many Conservative votes. The concept of allowing people to shoot over water in a highly busy recreational area to kill a bird is the most UNSAFE concept I have ever heard of. It's a lot less safe then shooting across a road, which will remain illegal. I total OBJECT to this bill. It is inhumane and totally unnecessary. The Double Crested Cormorant is simply a recovering species that is re-establishing it's place in Ontario's ecology. I object to this highly violent and insensitive political proposal..you should be ashamed proposing such an insane thought.