When the provincial government unveiled changes last month to B.C.’s hunting policies, they “didn’t get it quite right,” a cabinet minister has acknowledged, saying they will go back to the drawing board later this month.
Bill Bennett, Liberal MLA for Kootenay East, said the government has heard the public outcry from B.C. hunters, who were up in arms and claiming the new Wildlife Harvest Allocation decision unfairly favoured foreigners and professional hunting guides, at the expense of resident hunters.
A director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation said some resident hunters feel like “second class citizens in their own province” because the Dec. 10 decision gave a larger share of big game hunting permits to professional guides and outfitters, who largely cater to foreign hunters.
The issue ignited passionate debate in recent weeks, with Bennett himself admitting he got “pissed off” to the point where he wrote an “embarrassing” Facebook message.
Last month, after concerned hunters debated the topic on Bennett’s Facebook page, Bennett replied with a public post saying: “Frankly Steve (Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations) doesn’t need the votes to get elected and I’m not running again, so all the threats don’t mean sh– to us.”
Some B.C. residents who saw Bennett’s Facebook comment, as well as opposition NDP politicians, expressed concern and disappointment at what they perceived as a lack of regard for the voting public.
Bennett said he didn’t intend it that way, and thought the post was a private message. When he realized the comment could be read by people other than the intended recipient, Bennett said, he was “horrified” and immediately removed it. He apologized to anyone who was upset by reading the message, and added: “Steve (Thomson) had no idea I was going to say that … that’s not his fault that I said what I said. That’s on me, totally.”
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Bennett also said the government has heard the wave of outrage from B.C.’s hunters who were dismayed by last month’s announcement.
“I think we are going to have to change what we announced, and I’ve already said that to the Minister (Thomson).”
Bennett said that by the end of January, the government will try to get the two sides together — the BCWF representing resident hunters, and the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C. (GOABC) for the industry — to “try to work something out that everybody can live with … We realize we didn’t get it quite right.”
Jesse Zeman, a BCWF director, said it came as welcome news that the government wanted to restart talks on wildlife allocation.
“From our perspective, the door is always open,” Zeman said. “This is a public resource, it’s not being managed in the best interest of British Columbians … I think what they’re hearing is British Columbians are not happy.”
On the other side, Scott Ellis, executive director of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., said he “totally, 100 per cent” disagrees with Zeman’s characterization that resident hunters stand to lose out to the outfitting industry.
Like Zeman, Ellis said it was news to him that the government intends to go back to the table on this issue with the GOABC and BCWF, and he was “very disappointed.”
“We’ve spent 10 years and government finally makes a decision … what are we going to do now?” asked Ellis. “But if the government demands we come back to the table to discuss what they’ve already decided, obviously we will participate.”
The NDP MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, Norm Macdonald, said: “I’m actually really pleased, I had not heard the government is going to revisit this … That’s what should happen.”
“Certainly, (Bennett’s) Facebook post speaks to an attitude that is unacceptable,” Macdonald said. “Nobody should accept the idea that’s expressed in that Facebook post, that’s just not on.”
One B.C. hunter who read Bennett’s Facebook post said she thought it was “incredibly condescending.” Another said he was “shocked.”
The NDP critic for Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Harry Bains, wrote in a letter that Bennett’s comments “revealed in the ugliest terms possible, how little they care for those who disagree with their decisions.”
Bains wrote in the letter, sent last month to BCWF president George Wilson, that Bennett’s comments suggested “Minister Steve Thomson ignored hunters because he feels secure in his Kelowna-Mission constituency and does not need their votes. And Energy Minister Bill Bennett, who has a well-earned reputation for belittling critics, ignored hunters because he will not seek re-election and doesn’t care about their votes.”
Bennett acknowledged this wasn’t the first time in his 14 years as an MLA that he’s apologized for sending tersely-worded online messages, mentioning an angry, profanity-laced email he sent to a constituent in 2007. That email, also on the topic of wildlife allocations, led to Bennett resigning his cabinet position.
Source:: National Post
