According to a CBC news report, Ernie Parsons, sponsor of Bill 156,
gave up his spot to debate the bill effectively killing it.Thank you to everyone who wrote opposing Bill 156.
Cormorant Defenders International Alert
Bill 156 would legalize cormorant slaughter
Help stop destructive Private Members Bill
Print out and send a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty [PDF file.]
November 2, 2006: Bill 156, An Act to Amend the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 was just introduced by Ernie Parsons, Member of Provincial Parliament for Prince-Edward Hastings, Ontario. This Private Members Bill proposes that double-crested cormorants be added to the list of birds that Ontario residents are allowed to kill at will.
Currently, the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, Part II, Hunting, Trapping, Fishing and Related Activities, General Restrictions, Item 5 says a person shall not hunt or trap a specially protected bird or any other bird that belongs to a species that is wild by nature and is not a game bird.
Nearly all native migratory birds are protected under federal legislation, but the cormorant was left out because it was thought that they destroyed game fish. We now know that they do not, and indeed, here in Ontario they mostly eat non-native alewives and round gobies who compete with native fish species.
Years ago the role of predators in the environment was poorly understood and many birds were perceived to be competing with humans. Hawks, owls, ospreys, kingfishers, herons, egrets and other birds were cruelly slaughtered, and even now American crows, brown-headed cowbirds, common grackles, house sparrows, red-winged blackbirds and starlings are not protected by federal or provincial regulations. Bill 156 would add double-crested cormorants to that list and remove protection for them as well.
Double-crested cormorants, a species once far more abundant than they are now, were nearly wiped out because of human persecution and pesticide poisoning. Legal protections, along with a reduction in pesticide levels in the Great Lakes, allowed cormorant populations to recover and they are now found in various locations in the province.
Unfortunately, too many anglers still erroneously believe that cormorants are depleting sport fish populations, even though there is little, if any, evidence to suggest that that is actually happening or ever happened. In fact, cormorants are major predators of several introduced or invasive fish species that have wrecked havoc in Ontario's waterways, so their presence is extremely positive.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, a special interest lobby group that has promoted widespread cormorant control measures, are pushing the bill, so cormorant advocates need to push just as hard to defeat it.
Take Action Now
Please write immediately to:
Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Fax: (416) 325-3745
Print out and send a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty [PDF file.]
Hon. David Ramsay
Minister of Natural Resources
6630-99 Wellesley St W, 6th Floor, Whitney Block
Toronto, ON
M7A 1W3
Fax: 416-314-2216
Tell them you strongly oppose Bill 156 and urge them to defeat it. Tell them that the return of double-crested cormorants to the province is a good news environmental story and that the birds should not be persecuted because of the hysterical, unsubstantiated rantings of a small number of misinformed anglers.
It is also critically important that you contact your own Member of Provincial Parliament. If you don't know who they are, click here to find out.
Send a copy of your correspondence to Zoocheck.