SCI Canada Adds Chapters, Defends Hunters’ Rights On Parliament Hill

Safari Club International recently chartered two new Chapters in Canada: Central Alberta and Timmins-James Bay in Ontario. We are very excited to see those Chapters hit the ground running and are starting to plan events in their communities.

Both new Chapters, as well as a representative in Nova Scotia, attended Chapter Leadership Training in August at the Legends Ranch in Bitely, Mich. All the attendees spoke about how much they learned and were excited to take the next steps with the knowledge and connections they made at the training.

For Chapters that have not participated in one of our training sessions, we highly recommend taking part, as the relationships you can build with other Chapters are incredibly helpful for you.

I was in Alberta in early August to represent SCI at the annual summer meeting of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners. Other Canadian organization representatives who were working with Chris on building the Canadian Wildlife Conservation Partners were on hand to observe the meetings and finalize the plans to launch the group.

SCI Staff were also busy writing a response for the Environmental Assessment for the Toqlukuti’k Avalon Isthmus Green Energy Project in Newfoundland. We have grave concerns about this wind project that would impact important caribou and moose habitats. Our submission was received by the Minister for consideration for the project. More details on the outcome of this consultation will be shared next month.

At the end of August, SCI was made aware of the Bloodvein First Nations baring non-Indigenous hunters from entering some crown land in Manitoba. We were in constant contact with our partners on the ground and issued a statement calling on the government to uphold the law and hold those responsible for the blockade accountable. We continue to monitor the situation and will advise members of any developments.

SCI Director of Membership and Chapter Services Jason St. Michael and I also spent several days on Parliament Hill in June meeting with Members of Parliament and senators.

With more than 30 meetings with representatives from every corner of Canada, discussions centered around the state of hunting and wildlife across Canada and the world.

Many of the MPs and senators recognized the important role that hunters and anglers play in managing wildlife populations and are ensuring that the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is top of mind when making decisions that could impact wildlife.

SCI will continue meetings with MPs and senators in the fall when they return to Parliament Hill for the fall sitting schedule.