Saturday  September 17, 2022

Hon. Greg Rickford

Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry

Dear Minister,

I am writing to you with what I believe is a simple commonsensical approach to publicizing hunt seasons in Ontario.

Currently hunting seasons are described in a complex document titled Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary. It may be reviewed on-line at  https://www.ontario.ca/files/2022-08/mnrf-2022-hunting-regulations-summary-en-2022-08-11.pdf

It is nearly 100 pages in length and has about everything a hunter needs to know about hunting zones, seasons and regulations. It is however of little utility for people simply wanting to know when various seasons begin and end in their municipality.

The Town of Mono for instance is split between two zones which complicates anyone’s ability to understand hunting seasons if they differ by zone. Also, one must comb through the document to determine all the differing seasons e.g. shotgun versus bow season for deer let alone other species.

While maintaining the detail needed by hunters, would it not make sense to have a well publicized link where one can enter an address or municipality and get the dates for all the various hunting seasons?

Minister, this is a deadly serious issue. In 2006 Marianne Schmitt, 67 a hiker was killed near Tottenham by a hunter. While mindful of hunters she was unaware of the beginning of hunting season. One of her best friends is a constituent of mine. I am including a link to an article about the incident - https://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=15867

Given that we are heading into prime hunting season I trust you will give this request your quick attention.

Yours truly,

John Creelman, Mayor of Mono

c.c. MPP Sylvia Jones

c.c. Premier Doug Ford