In January, I received two letters written for and signed by our present Minister of Natural
Resources Donna Cansfield. Both letters expound the party line of how fantastic a job the MNR is
doing in providing opportunity for public input on management decisions affecting our natural
resources in Northern Ontario. Both letters are posted on the Temagami Stewardship Council (TSC)
website at www.temagamistewardship.ca. To bad this Minister couldn’t be more aware of what is
really going on and not just a figurehead put in place to hold the line as the gutting of a once proud and
viable Ministry continues.

As for the contention that the present MNR pays any attention to public input and the great job
done by the EBR posting I have to go no further than the February edition of Ontario Out Of Doors. In
the President’s message I discovered that “New Forest Guidelines” have been posted on the EBR.
Unfortunately the deadline for response has already past. It was January 26, 2009. The EBR is too
sequestered and too complicated for most to access. Even when you have a person dedicated to
watching for postings, as we were fortunate to have on the TSC many of our members could not find
the information.

As far as Public Open Houses and Client Meetings providing for public input. I attended the
packed open house held by the MNR in the Temagami arena on April 6, 2006 to gather input for
proposed 2007 fishing regulation changes. Although there was lots said about the walleye and lake
trout fishery there was nothing introduced about brook trout. Comment sheets circulated by the MNR at
the time did not have a size restriction for brook trout as an option. In subsequent TSC meetings there
was nothing said about the possibility of a size limit regulation on brook trout. The official response of
the TSC for the proposed 2007 regulation change was to leave the regulation as status quo. There were
only 6 written responses in 2006 concerning the brook trout regulation, 4 of them wanted a yearlong
season and the other 2 said nothing about a size restriction.

The contention in your letter that the brook trout regulation took two years to implement seems
a little erroneous as the other Zones in Northern Ontario were able to use the MNR’s own policy
statement, Guidelines for Management of Brook Trout in Northern Ontario, provided in the EBR in
October of 2006. That guideline clearly stated, “Size limit regulations should not be used in waters
which are stocked on a putgrow-take basis.” and that “Special regulations should only be implemented
where there are clear management objectives, where there is widespread public support, and where
they can be fully evaluated.” There was defiantly no widespread support, no scientific research
conducted and a flimsy objective that could have been achieved with a less restrictive regulation.
Many of you may be asking why I do not just give up and move on like everyone else in the
past? That is the reason. There have been so many wonderful volunteer groups and organizations who
have done great work only to have the MNR turn their back on them and walk away. We had it right in
Temagami and we scared an antiquated management system that still hasn’t figured out the value of
public involvement. I am looking forward to the day when we have a Minister and a government
capable of providing the MNR with funding and direction to allow it to do the job it should be doing in
Northern Ontario.

Gaye Smith
R.R.#3, Paisley, Ont.
519-353-7275