More broken government promises and a hefty price tag placed on access to traditional wintertime hunting and fishing grounds have left thousands of Ontario’s outdoors enthusiasts bitter and disappointed.
The Motorized Snowmobile Vehicles Amendment Act, also known as Bill 101, would force people to pay expensive trail permit fees just to access their traditional hunting and fishing areas. The fees would be imposed despite the fact these traditional trail users have, for years, been using, and in some cases even created, the trails they will now be forced to pay for.
“This is an untenable situation that must be reversed,” says Mike Reader, Executive Director for the 83,000-member Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.
“People who have used trails to access ice fishing lakes and hunt camps are suddenly faced with annual fees of $150 or more just to travel a few kilometers to areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. The fees are an onerous financial burden for some people and an outright insult to all traditional users,” Reader adds.
Last summer a government committee heard comments and concerns from groups and individuals affected by Bill 101. The Standing Committee on General Government heard, at all of their hearings, that exemptions from permits for traditional trail users were both appropriate and necessary. Among those supporting the exemptions is the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, the very organization that receives the money from trail permits.
The bill was passed in December 2000 and regulations to implement the bill have been in development since. Regulations specifying mandatory fees, with no exemption for hunters and anglers, were published June 15, despite assurances to the contrary from the Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is, in the strongest terms, urging the government to amend its regulations immediately.
For more information contact O.F.A.H. Communications Specialist Mark Holmes at 705-748-6324, fax to 705-748-9577, or e-mail ofah@ofah.org