Special interest groups distort picture

Dear editor,
We owned and operated Windy Bay Lodge, a bear hunting camp north of Rainy River, from 1978 to 1990. We, too, are dismayed and confused by the cancellation of the spring bear hunt but the hypocrisy and phony outrage of our local MPPs–Howard Hampton and Frank Miclash–cannot be tolerated.
Never mind the rhetoric in their carefully-worded press releases. Not once do they say they support the spring bear hunt because they don’t. Ask them outright, yes or no, and make them answer the question directly.
While you’re talking to them, ask about some other issues that are dear to the hearts of northerners and are up for debate, both provincially and federally.
Do they support same sex marriages, same sex adoption, and same sex benefits? Yes, the record shows that they do. What will the next definition of a family be?
As taxpayers, we simply cannot afford to fund any more “special interest groups.” It isn’t racist, it isn’t homophobic, it’s just common sense.
There are simply not enough taxpayers to fund any group that represents such an inordinately small percentage of the population. Taxes are for education, health care, and infrastructure.
“Special interest groups” should be funded by “specially interested people.” When will our MPPs stop supporting/funding these groups and start carrying out the wishes of the majority of their constituents?
Do they support Bill C-68, registering the long guns of law-abiding citizens as a start-up cost of $134 million–and a $60 million annually to update? Yes, they do. Don’t let them tell you it’s not a provincial issue. It is federal law with provincial implementation and it is costing a fortune. Criminals are still shooting innocent people and are failing to register their guns. Surprise!!!
A number of sensible provinces, including Ontario, have taken the challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada with no support from the provincial Liberals or the NDP.
In 1997, 23 women died from gunshot wounds in Canada while 4,800 women died from breast cancer ($20 million in annual funding). Where are the priorities?
Do they support the new provincial government initiative that allows a 12-year-old to hunt with a responsible adult, thus promoting the sport of hunting and encouraging family time together, or were they apart of the chorus that accused Mike Harris of “arming our children?”
They were part of the chorus!
The mayor of Thunder Bay says the hunt is an “embarrassment.” Does he think it will be any more appealing to watch grown bears die as they come into communities looking for food? More cubs will die, not less, victims of an overpopulation of hungry and aggressive adult male bears. Not to mention the loss of fawns and moose calves, as well.
The hunt controls an immense bear population and provides millions of new dollars each year, from Europe and the USA, to the economy of Northwestern Ontario. When the spinoffs to other sectors are included, the benefits are overwhelming.
Where will the dollars come from to compensate the losses to all these outfitters? Most will come from our taxes.
Even the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters supported a resolution to talk to the animal rights activists about “adjustments” to the spring bear hunt.
These are the same type of activists who destroyed the east coast cod fishery. They produced images of clubbed baby seals, with no thought to the ultimate well-being of the entire herd. An over-population of grown seals has now contributed to the depletion of the fishery, a major source of food and the backbone of the Atlantic economy.
Special interest groups care only about the health of their own organizations. They create high-profile controversies to feed public emotion, and rarely rely on facts to do so. We must ask ourselves what our locally elected officials have really done for us on many of the issues, or if they are just listening to “special interest groups.”
With immediate, visible support from ordinary, common sense citizens across the province, the decision to cancel the hunt can be reversed. The premier can tell the “special interest groups” to take a hike! If they put up their anti-hunting billboards, he can simply ask the people of Ontario, “Who do you want to run your province, your premier and your elected MPPs, or a bunch of ‘special interest groups’ endorsed by both the Liberals and the NDP?”
The choice is clear for most Ontarians. That’s why they gave Mike Harris 82 seats in 1995!
If you have friends and relatives in southern Ontario, please call them and give them the facts. It is not us against them but rather fact over emotion. They only hear the animal activists’ rhetoric. We must show that banning the spring bear hunt cuts to the very heart of a livelihood that is rooted in hundreds of years of tradition.
What will the next target be? What fundamental right will be on the chopping block next? There’s a great country song “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” We must not put an X beside a name just because it’s been on the ballot for years, and we recognize it. We must elect members who stand for the things we value most. If we do not, we will continue to see an erosion to the very fabric of our communities.
Until we have a voice at the table that truly represents our beliefs and until we say “enough is enough,” we will continue to lose our personal rights and freedoms.
Yours sincerely,
Tony & Lynn Beyak