MINTO – After an overwhelming show of public support, Minto will soon be added to the list of municipalities that permit Sunday gun hunting in Ontario.
Passed unanimously during a council meeting Tuesday afternoon, the issue was previously debated last month after more than 25 letters and a petition with over 130 signatures were submitted to council in support of hunting with a gun in Minto on Sundays.
Minto will be joining the ranks of Wellington North and Guelph/Eramosa, leaving four municipalities in Wellington County that still don't allow Sunday gun hunting.
"Really, there's not a large risk (permitting Sunday gun hunting) because it's just another day," said Matt Braet, a volunteer director for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH), during the meeting. "The rules are the same from Monday to Saturday and now they'll be the same from Monday through Sunday."
However, not everyone was in support of the change.
The owner of a heavily forested 15-acre property in Minto, Susan Jewell wrote a letter to the township against the proposal as she already has problems with hunters and their dogs trespassing and Sunday is her family's "only day of peace" when they're not concerned they may be shot by trespassing hunters while going for a walk on their property.
Acknowledging Jewell's comments during the meeting, both Deputy Mayor Jean Anderson and Coun. Judy Dirkson asked staff how residents in Jewell's shoes can deal with trespassing and safety concerns related to hunting.
"(This resident said) she'll be taking her children walking and then there are the entrails of an animal," said Anderson. "For a family that doesn't hunt at all...that's a pretty disturbing thing to come across."
In response to their concerns, staff clarified that Sunday hunters will still have to follow all the same regulations and rules regarding hunting in Ontario which include having a tag when necessary, firearm registration, a hunting license, and the explicit permission of private landowners to hunt on their property among other regulations.
They also suggested information could be posted on the township website to let landowners know the steps they can take to ensure hunters don't trespass on their land including things like signs along the property line.
With Minto, 192 municipalities in Southern Ontario currently allow Sunday gun hunting with the townships of Springwater and Scugog most recently joining the group last month.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
