With the recent ban on trophy bear hunting, it begs us to ask the question: people still do that?
We are all in favour of hunting; shoot the arse off whatever’s in season, as long as your following rules and regulations – and if you’re planning on using all of the animal.
Simply shooting something so you can leave its body and hang its head on your wall as an indication of how “tough?” you are is barbaric, pathetic and wasteful.
With British Columbia’s child poverty rate the second highest in the nation (second only to Manitoba), it’s mind-boggling someone would willingly leave behind a freezer full of meat.
The hunting ban was imposed by 10 First Nation’s across British Columbia. However, the province is saying only they have the power to impose the legislation.
“That’s an issue that we’re facing — how we’re going to be able to deal with that without the province supporting us,” Coalition spokesperson William Housty of Heiltsuk First Nation said.
It’s been years of First Nation communities urging government to impose bans on trophy hunting and discarding carcasses.
BC Minister of Forests Steve Thomson says the province sets hunting regulations and First Nations need to respect their decisions.
He also pointed to the hunting industry’s cash contribution, quoting an estimated $350 million to the province every year.
But no one’s saying no to hunting, it’s just no to shooting a living creature purely for an ego boost.
The First Nations coalition need the province’s support to ensure their ban has teeth.
It’s the right thing to do.
–Autumn MacDonald, Observer