By Pepper Parr
August 29th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
And what did you do over the weekend?
It just might become a “whistle while you walk” exercise for people in several of the city wards. Councillor Lisa Kearns handing out Fox40 whistles.
Lisa Kearns, Councillor for ward 2, was handing out whistles to anybody who wanted one. They are supposed to scare away any coyotes that crossed your path – which is a common occurrence in the ward.
Tim O’Brien, who would like to replace Kearns as the Councillor for the ward said that “his feet were killing him as he walked from door to door telling his story.
Just about all the candidates running for the first time have their web sites in place and their volunteers lined up.
The concern over the coyote problem isn’t just in the minds of the people who are out walking. Members of Council are complaining that they did not see the report prepared by a small group of Oakville and Burlington citizens nor were they aware that it even existed.
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The report and its recommendations.
Handing out whistles to scare away coyotes is not something I think any councillor should be doing. Has anyone done any research on the Fox40 whistles to find out if they are indeed a coyote deterrent? In fact they could give people a false sense of security, which could end up as a lawsuit.
Would this whistle have been of any benefit to the 2 1/2 year old child who was sitting in his own fenced yard when attacked by a coyote and bitten in his neck. Or the girl lying in the grass when a coyote pulled her hair at the beginning of what could have been a terrible situation. They didn’t. Seems more like an election campaign ploy to me.
Members of council should be asking the city manager why this report did not come to them. Not only did it not come to council but the city failed to take any pro-active steps to have the animal control people look into areas of the city where coyote sightings have occurred for a few years.
When confronted with a Coyote, how many people are going to have their whistle handy or remember the information on the signs provided by the city? I applaud the bravery of all those who were attacked, however, they should never have happened.
No matter what spin the city decides to take regarding these attacks, it failed to protect the residents of Burlington.
$7,188 spent with taxpayers money on a false sense of security ($5.99 x 1200 whistles )