Letters, Oct. 8: Storm brewing on Mayne Island
Credit to Author: Stephen Snelgrove| Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2019 01:00:15 +0000
A buck on Mayne Island.
Further to Glenda Luymes’ article “B.C.’s Capital Regional District seeks help in Bambi battle” on Sept. 28, there is a storm brewing over hunting on Mayne Island.
For nearly 30 years, no hunting was permitted on Mayne except for six or seven resident hunters who had special permits to hunt fallow deer. This was for reasons of safety and a distaste for hunting by island residents.
However, in 2018, year-round hunting of fallow deer and a closed, three-month season for the native black-tailed deer by any person with a B.C. hunting licence were imposed by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. Most residents and landowners on the island had no idea of the change until it was too late to submit input, and have since felt the ministry is not taking their concerns seriously, leaving many feeling frightened, frustrated and abandoned by their government.
As is evidenced by the 400-plus signatures on a petition circulated in the last few months, and comments in the monthly news magazine, The Mayneliner, many island residents want the change reversed, primarily for reasons of safety. Most of Mayne Island is privately owned and many areas have multiple small lots. Spring and summer bring many tourists, vital to the island’s economy.
Regulations in place outlining restrictions on firearm use in B.C. are difficult to enforce at the best of times, let alone on a small island with no provincial conservation or RCMP presence. There is an alarming list of incidents being documented by island residents, and several people have submitted a formal request to return Mayne Island to no-hunting status, save for special permits issued for the purpose of fallow deer control.
Friends of Public Safety on Mayne has been formed to compile information and determine further action and can be reached at: friendsofpublicsafety539@yahoo.com.
Debra Probert, Mayne Island
As a long-time forest activist who once worked in the forest industry, my message to the province regarding the closure of sawmills and loss of jobs is, “the future we warned about has arrived.”
For decades, we have cautioned that the province’s forests are being overcut and the result will be degraded ecosystems, loss of species, damage to fresh water supplies and the loss of jobs. The industry is the architect of their own demise and while forest workers are but pawns in this travesty, the forest companies have taken their well-subsidized profits and invested the money in sawmills in the U.S., where tree plantations grow many times faster than they do here.
British Columbia’s forests have been ravaged and while B.C. citizens are left with the mess, the corporations will continue to profit south of the border. While mill closures and job losses are depressing, today’s crisis was so predictable and was so preventable.
Jim Cooperman, president, Shuswap Environmental Action Society
If the NDP and their complicit mayors had completed their review and concluded that in fact the previous Liberal government had gotten it right, that a 10-lane bridge was the best solution, then I would have respected them.
But they allowed politics to influence their decision. They could not recommend a 10-lane bridge only because that was the Liberals’ idea, even though that idea is obviously the best choice.
Now, we have to wait even longer and pay more for what will be an inadequate solution to the gridlock on Highway 99.
Decisions made solely for political reasons are why the electorate has come to despise politicians.
Cliff du Fresne, North Vancouver
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its rules for entry haven’t changed, but suggests that it may be getting stricter on the enforcement side of things.
Perhaps it’s time for Canada to do the same and start getting tougher on those entering our country. And I’m not talking about refugee claimants who must undergo a rigorous vetting process which results in many being sent back. Turning away ordinary travellers based on relatively minor discrepancies, as they’ve been doing, would send the message that we also consider it a “privilege” to enter our great nation!
Charles Leduc, Vancouver
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