Bring back the spring bear hunt

The provincial government has been murmuring aloud of late, including Natural Resources minister Jerry Ouellette, about reinstating the spring bear hunt.
Perhaps it’s just a trial balloon, a little pre-election ploy to gauge the level of support or opposition before the impending campaign. But a big voice weighed into the fray last week when the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) voted unanimously in favour of bringing it back.
It was the right call—and one the provincial government should heed forthwith.
The economy of Northern Ontario is still reeling from then Premier Mike Harris’ abrupt decision to axe the spring bear hunt back in 1999 (ironically, also an election year). And now there’s growing evidence, albeit largely anecdotal, that the number of nuisance bears has skyrocketed since.
It’s one thing to encounter a bear while camping deep in the bush, and quite another if they’re raiding campsites in provincial parks. And quite another still if you meet one rummaging through a bird feeder or the barbecue right in your own backyard in town.
Frankly, the behaviour of bears has changed. Many no longer seem afraid of humans and most appear used to the idea of scavenging through garbage for food. That’s even true about bears deep in the bush, a large number of which have been re-located there after being trapped in towns.
They’re now simply wandering around looking for that convenient food source again.
The provincial NDP has unveiled a plan to help protect northern and rural communities from the threat posed by nuisance bears—calling on the province to give municipalities the money it makes each year from the fall hunt to cover the downloaded cost of trapping and re-locating these bears.
That’s one option. But the real answer is to reinstate the spring bear hunt as an effective, yet responsible, way to control the bear population in Northern Ontario.
It also would provide a much-needed economic boost to the region while also allowing people to pursue the time-honoured and legitimate tradition of hunting.
Axing the spring bear hunt was a mistake. It’s high time to admit the blunder and rectify it.