© Norman RawnMore than 90% of British Columbia residents oppose the trophy hunt. However, to the incumbent Liberal Party, it has been a source of donations via Safari Club International: a trophy hunting group. The British Columbia Liberals support trophy hunting.[teaserbreak]
The National Democratic Party (NDP) looked to me that it was onside when I wrote about it back in early March. But, now, it seems that it is trying to appease the anti-trophy hunting majority of British Columbia residents while actually giving hunters what they want—regardless of how this affects voters (or bears). In response to questions from the British Columbia Wildlife Federation, NDP leader John Horgan replied that, under its scheme, called a Limited Entry Hunt (LEH), “B.C. hunters will continue to have the opportunity under the LEH system to harvest grizzly bear utilizing the entire bear.”
Huh? That strikes me as rather translucent code for, “Just take out some meat with you and you can keep your trophy.”
Even the Green Party has backed off simply banning trophy hunting of grizzly bears, with a policy that, somewhat like that of the NDP, would allow the keeping of trophies—the main incentive for well-heeled trophy hunters—as long as the outfitters took the meat, too.
The Liberals will, if re-elected, stop hunting in the Great Bear Rainforest. But, that’s as much of a sop as they are willing to give the majority of voters—justifiably confident that the other major parties also dare not upset the hunters’ need to have a glass-eyed trophy head in their dens or trophy rooms.
It’s really no wonder that ordinary citizens, especially young Canadians, are increasingly turned off from politics. Maybe that will turn around if more people now in their teens and twenties get involved. However, the current crop of seasoned politicians, like the leaders of the major parties, tend not to encourage us to have faith in the ability of our political choice to really matter.
Keep wildlife in the wild,
Barry