More hunters are lining up to take aim at a proposed city bylaw that would ban bow and arrow and firearm discharge in Coquitlam.
This week, Burke Mountain resident Renato Spano stood before council-in-committee to urge the city not to restrict firearm hunting, which is currently allowed around farmland near the eastern boundary of Coquitlam as well as Goose Island, the foreshore beside the Pitt-Addington Marsh Wildlife Area and the waters of the Pitt River.
And, later this month, council is expected to hear from Spano's neighbour, Thaddeus Seidler, who uses a bow and arrow to hunt in Pinecone Burke provincial park, which is partially located within the city limits.
Both residents told The Tri-City News the draft bylaw, which council has already granted three readings, would affect their livelihoods: Spano hunts migratory birds for sport - and sometimes with his family - while Seidler hunts black-tailed deer for food.
At Monday's meeting, Spano walked council through the regulations hunters in Coquitlam must adhere to, including obtaining a $1 million liability insurance policy. He described hunters as "conservationists" and "stewards of land" who haven't caused any problems for the city or police.
The incident that prompted the bylaw - bow and arrow hunters wounding a bear on a northeast Coquitlam blueberry farm last June, which wandered for 16 hours in a public park before it was destroyed by conservation officers - was "a senseless and stupid act" that gave hunters a bad name, Spano said.
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear: Those individuals are not hunters. They're poachers. They're criminals. And they should be dealt with as such by proper authorities," he said.
Coun. Terry O'Neill said council was "surprised and overwhelmed" to learn hunting was still allowed in Coquitlam, after it introduced its ban, and he argued firearm hunting should be permitted in Coquitlam. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," O'Neill said of the current bylaw.
Last month, council shot down a motion for a complete firearms discharge prohibition, arguing the city would be acting on emotions and not reason; however, advocates counter Burke Mountain is growing and the shoreline is being used more frequently by nature lovers who would feel uncomfortable with guns firing in the area.
In January, the committee heard from a Coquitlam hunter who warned the local Canada Goose population at city parks would swell if a firearms ban was imposed.
If approved, the bylaw would not apply to the city's two gun clubs. Fourth and final reading of the bylaw is expected next month.
