A coalition of animal welfare and environmental groups called on Natural Resources minister Jerry Ouellette on Friday to remove Fort Frances Mayor Glenn Witherspoon from the nuisance bear panel struck last week.
They charge his only interest in sitting on the panel is to lobby for the reinstatement of the spring bear hunt.
And Mayor Witherspoon said Friday morning that’s exactly right. “Nuisance bears are what we’re concerned with,” he remarked.
“My mandate is to look at the numbers, and do what’s best for the safety of residents not only in the north, but all the way down to the Golden Horseshoe,” the mayor added.
He stressed a spring bear hunt may be one of the recommendations made by the panel, but that it would be strictly for “safety reasons.”
“Noting that I don’t know the background of these groups, I can’t really comment any further,” Mayor Witherspoon said. “But they can be assured there will be no resignation from me.”
The coalition demanding the mayor’s removal include the Animal Alliance of Canada, Animal Protection Institute, The Bear Alliance, Environment Voters, World Society for the Protection of Animals Canada, and Zoocheck Canada.
“Clearly, this panel is nothing more than a clumsy attempt to reinstate the spring bear hunt under a cover of so-called nuisance bears,” Liz White, director of Animal Alliance and Environment Voters, said in a press release issued this morning.
“Mayor Witherspoon has shown us the true intentions of the minister, and his comments have shown the committee is a farce,” she charged.
“Witherspoon admits he has only one goal: reinstatement of the spring bear hunt,” charged Julie Woodyer, director of Zoocheck Canada. “If the ‘nuisance’ bear panel is to have any credibility, Witherspoon must be removed.”
Rob Laidlaw, project manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals Canada, said, “The only question for me is did the minister know Mr. Witherspoon’s bias before appointing him to the committee?
“This is a question the coalition will be asking Mr. Ouellette.”
“Surveys have continued to show that over three-quarters of the Ontario population are opposed to the spring bear hunt,” echoed George Dupras, director the Bear Alliance.
“How is it that the minister appointed Witherspoon, whose views are clearly supported by a shrinking minority of Ontario voters, and failed to include someone who would represent the views of the majority of Ontarians?
“The appointment of Witherspoon calls into question the intent of the minister and the purpose of the committee,” he added.
The committee, announced last Friday, will be chaired by Royal Poulin, former general manager of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and current chair of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.
Other committee members include John Knight, a professor in the Wildlife Department at Sir Sandford Fleming College, and Dr. Martyn Obbard, a Ministry of Natural Resources biologist and nationally-renowned bear biologist.
Witherspoon previously had said Ouellette chose him for the committee after seeing a presentation he had done at the annual meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario last month in Toronto.
The purpose of the committee is to review the biology, literature, and geographic and socio-economic factors relating to perceived nuisance bear problems in Ontario.