CALEB NICKERSON
MRC PONTIAC April 18, 2018
At the most recent council meeting on April 18, MRC council moved to appeal the Quebec government for a revision to recent changes in the laws surrounding moose hunting.
As of the 2018 hunting season, non-residents who wish to hunt moose in this province must use at least two services from an outfitter, hunt in a controlled harvesting zone (ZEC) or in a wildlife reserve.
Non-residents will be allowed to hunt moose if they are accompanied by an immediate family member who has a license from the current year. There are also exceptions that cover military, police or diplomatic personnel.
MRC Pontiac director of territory, Régent Dugas, explained that they were concerned with the effect these changes would have on seasonal residents that own cottages and hunting camps in the region.
“We are managing around 1,200 leases for the Quebec government,” he explained. “The MRC Pontiac is managing those leases, and out of those 1,200, there’s close to 18 per cent of those leases that are owned by a non-resident. The majority are people from Ontario, because we’re right on the border.”
He said that they were requesting that the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP) revise the rules to make an exception for some non-residents.
“They pay a lease to the province and they also pay school taxes and municipal taxes on those leases so we’re asking to consider those [seasonal] residents to be considered as residents,” Dugas said, adding that they would be sending the proposed revisions to other MRCs as well, to seek their support.
Non-residents already pay significantly higher rates than residents (for moose, licence prices for 2018/19 are $497.81 and $75.12 respectively).
Dennis LeBrun, who’s owned the Bryson Lake Lodge in TNO Lac Nilgault for 25 years, said that changes had been in the works for some time, adding that similar restrictions are already in place for hunting bears. He said he understands why some people would be upset, but explained that the MFFP is looking to counteract declines in the moose population.
“There’s definitely been a reduction of moose in all areas of Quebec. This is another tool their using to reduce the number of hunters,” he explained. “For myself, we already have our clientele, it won’t affect me too much. There are a lot of people I feel bad about, who purchased cottages as non-residents for moose hunting and now they won’t be able to do that. I won’t say I’m happy about it but I’m ok with the new policies they’re bringing out. It’s definitely going to control the number of non-resident hunters coming into Quebec to shoot moose.”
LeBrun added that the MFFP had already restricted the hunting of cow and calf moose in the regulatory zones that cover the Outaouais, 10 and 12.
“The ministry knows that there is a problem,” he said. “Even though the licenses are incredibly high already, I think this will reduce the number of hunters.”
He also stressed that these new changes would not affect deer hunting.
