Contrarian reader Denis Falvey writes: A decision that flies in the face of one fact of science does not necessarily constitute ignorance. A bounty may not eradicate coyotes, it may not even lower their numbers appreciably, but it will change their habits. Coyotes live in an ecological niche; like any other animal, they will multiply to fill that niche. I would prefer that the limits on their ecological niche not include my doorstep, and the only way to achieve that is for the animals to be wary of coming near my doorstep. That's not going to happen with my singing Kumbayah'....

25 April, 2010

Experts say a bounty won’t lessen human encounters with aggressive coyotes, and might make matters worse. They base this conclusion, in part, on experience in Nova Scotia, where a $50 bounty in the 1980s failed to reduce coyote numbers. They say it on the Department of Natural Resources website—or they used to, until inconvenient scientific information was expunged just in time for Minister John MacDonell's flight from evidence-based decision making. [caption id="attachment_5079" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="John MacDonell "][/caption] The Winston Smiths assigned to expunge the historical record missed a few spots. They failed to delete wildlife director Barry Sabean's 1989 and 1991 declarations...

23 April, 2010

In addition to her invaluable work on Sable Island, Zoe Lucas has, for the last five years,  hosted annual public meetings where scientists, government officials, industry representatives, and naturalists like herself have briefed the public on developments affecting the island.The sixth of these sessions takes place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, at the Theatre Auditorium, McNally Building, Saint Mary's University. This year's meeting takes on special significance because of the secret deliberations currently underway between the Harper and Dexter governments over the level of protection to be afforded Sable in years to come. Federal Parks Minister Jim Prentice and provincial...

02 March, 2010
For the on-line record, and thanks to Joey Schwartz's OCR magic, here is the start of the Sable MOU signed Monday, with the remainder after the jump. To download the official PDF version, click here and the unofficial Word version here.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (hereinafter referred to as "MOU)

BETWEEN

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA AS REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT (hereinafter referred to as "CANADA")

AND

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF NOVA SCOTIA AS REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES (hereinafter referred to as "NOVA SCOTIA")

RESPECTING

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FEDERAL PROTECTED AREA ON SABLE ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA WHEREAS Sable Island is a remote island located about 160 kilometres from mainland Nova Scotia near the edge of the continental shelf;

27 January, 2010

Canada and Nova Scotia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the future of Sable Island Monday amidst considerable fanfare and media coverage.  Surprisingly, and unusually, the actual text of the agreement was not made public at the time. Normally such agreements are posted on government websites at the time of such announcements. Thanks to the communications folks at the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Contrarian has posted a copy which you can download here. [PDF file].* The MOU confirms that the process annouced Monday will unfold in two stages, only the second of which will involve the public. First, provincial and federal...

27 January, 2010