After weeks of negative news coverage regarding its connection to trophy hunters and donations from trophy hunting groups, including the US-based Safari Club International, the BC Liberals attempted to regain the narrative by promising to “work with the Coastal First Nations towards the elimination of the grizzly bear hunt in the Great Bear Rainforest,” while at the same time “continuing with the science-based approach to the bear hunt elsewhere in the province.”
It is worth remembering that Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, made a similar announcement back in February of 2016, when he mistakenly told reporters that “The agreement today as we announced retires the commercial hunt for grizzly bear for the Great Bear Rainforest.
Protecting the species is the first principle and we will continue to manage the process elsewhere on a science-based approach to grizzly bear and wildlife management generally.”
Tom Reissman – Vancouver Observer – April 17th, 2017.