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 OUTDOOR PURSUITS
 with Rob Miskosky

Motivated Ministers


I have always felt that if you were the hunting, fishing and trapping minister in this province (or any other for that matter), you should have at least held a fishing rod in your hand or have put a rifle to your shoulder, confirming an interest in the things you oversee. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. (It should be noted that the minister overseeing the hunting, fishing and trapping portfolio oversees much more than simply those pursuits. In fact, the hunting, fishing and trapping side of things is probably the smallest part of the job.) Having said that, for those of us that partake in those pursuits, it is the most important to us and the one we most likely judge performance on.

Dr. Ted Morton Jason Nixon

Over the years, Alberta has had several ministers in charge of our fish and wildlife portfolio, some that took interest in their portfolio while others... maybe not so much. Two Alberta ministers immediately come to mind that both have a love of the outdoors, fishing and hunting, and both who made positive change(s) while in charge of the fish and wildlife portfolio.

The first being Dr. Ted Morton who was the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development from December 2006 to January 2010 before he was promoted to Minister of Finance. Ted Morton loved to hunt and fish and now at 71-years-of-age, still does to this day. Ted Morton brought us online licensing, Sunday hunting, dropped the age limit to hunt big game in Alberta to 12-years-old, overturned the Interim Métis Harvesting Agreement, played a large role in the Land-use Framework, and supported the Alberta Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Heritage Act. Of course, Morton also introduced the controversial Recreational Access Management Plan, better known as RAMP, which eventually died because of a lack of funding. The list of changes brought about by Morton during his four-year term as Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, while not complete here, proves that he was fully invested in the fish and wildlife file. No other minister that served in this portfolio before he did that I can remember has a list of accomplishments as long as Morton does.

But, Ted Morton has a challenger. Enter current Minister of Alberta Environment and Parks, Jason Nixon.

Like Ted Morton, Jason Nixon too has a great love of the outdoors, hunting and fishing. Since being named minister in charge of our fish and wildlife file in April 2019, Nixon has made great strides in showing our outdoor organizations that he is listening to their concerns.

On the angling side, Nixon has announced the upgrade and expansion of our fish hatcheries, opened up many pike and walleye fisheries to catch-and-keep, and partnered with AHEIA to launch a free fishing education program to Albertans.

On the hunting side, he has opened up a sandhill crane season, removed the restriction for carrying a weapon on an OHV before noon in most WMUs, lowered the game bird hunting age from 12 to 10-years-of-age, allowed for the use of pack dogs while hunting in WMUs 400-446, extended black bear and cougar hunting seasons, and because of the impact of Covid-19 on our outfitters, has allowed for residents unsuccessful in a draw to purchase a special licence from an outfitter.

I know I have missed other changes made by both Morton and Nixon but the point being that both were and are motivated ministers that took great interest in the fish and wildlife side of their portfolios. As outdoorsmen and women, we really can’t ask for much more than that.

Hunting season is upon us, have a great season everybody!


For previous Outdoor Pursuits click here.




 
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