Sudbury byelection candidates avoid talk on spring bear hunt

Morning North5:12Candidates debate - the spring bear hunt

We have another excerpt from the candidates debate held at St Andrews Place in Sudbury. Green candidate David Robinson and PC Candidate Paula Peroni were pitted against each other in our head to head segment, on the topic of the spring bear hunt.Candidates in the Sudbury byelection shied away this week from the contentious topic of the spring bear hunt, and even the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is saying little about the hunt just months before it opens.

At the CBC debate this week, Green candidate David Robinson and Progressive Conservative Paula Peroni drew bear hunting as a debate topic.

“I wish I had a really good answer to that,” Robinson said. “I’ve heard the bears say they don’t like it.”

Peroni asked if the two could pass on the question, but both agreed that whatever direction the province takes, the decision should be made in northern Ontario.

Fifteen years after being cancelled, the spring bear hunt returned to the north last year, but only around five major cities and only for Ontario residents.

For months now, the CBC has been asking the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for numbers on last year’s hunt, including how many bears were shot and how many licenses were issued.

So far, no answers have been provided.

On Thursday, the ministry would only confirm that the pilot project will continue this spring, but wouldn’t say if anything is changing based on last year’s hunt.