Hi Tweets,

Diann MacRae writes:

>Tweets, I believe this will wrap up the thread on the hawk and owl
>shooting. Thank goodness it's positive.

If only.

Like a slightly-not-quite-all-there kid brother, the Ontario government is
proposing to do exactly the same thing in exactly the same way, according to
Peter Whelan's Birds column in this Saturday's Globe & Mail newspaper.

Here's the address of the flak-catcher--I mean, liaison--to contact, should
you wish to initiate a frank expression of views on the matter with the
Province of Ontario.

Pud Hunter, Area Biologist
MNR Aylmer District
353 Talbot Street West
Aylmer, Ontario
N5H 2S8

'MNR' stands for 'Ministry of Natural Resources', the environmental
component of which, under the current Harris government, has been
comprehensively eviscerated: it no longer offers any pretence of
environmental protection or effectiveness and exists only as a pro-logging.
pro-mining, pro-industry rubberstamp explicitly instructed by the Harris
government--the documents literally ordering it to do so were leaked just
last week to the news media--to look the other way on pesticide spills, tire
fires, etc. Given such an environmentally barbarian regime-- their decision
to ban the spring bear hunt notwithstanding: they made that decision because
they knew they had little chance of winning the court-case, *and* they're
positioning themselves for a provincial election-- wildlife has little
chance for protection until there's an actual change of government in Ontario.

That this issue is arising again so soon after the last one was defeated
with all the derision it deserved is proof that you can lead a politician to
nature but you just can't make him think.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net