By Pepper Parr
September 1sr, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
It has been a very useful, productive day for Stephen White.
He had a forenoon call with City Manager Tim Commisso who was in Thunder Bay, his home town, for some R&R during which the two discussed at length a report that White and Julie Martin put together on the coyote problem in eastern Burlington and western Oakville.
The Burlington, Oakville Coyote Management (BOCM) report set out the nature of the problem and a number of solutions.
The Commisso/White conversation was lengthy, much of which was off the record – as it should have been.
What was on the record was that of the 11 recommendations, five would be accepted and acted upon by the city and six would be referred to others for further review. Some of the recommendations did not fall within a municipalities jurisdiction.
Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte
Sheila Jones, second from the right is seen by many as the power behind the city manager.
During the afternoon meeting that was also virtual, Commisso, Sheila Jones, who White saw as the power behind the city manager, the Mayor and a number of staff people well as Councillor Shawna Stole who was fully engaged in the conversation.
An example of a Councillor doing a Councillor’s work
The group decided that there would be a report to be made public on Friday (which is a very fast turn around) and discussed at the Corporate Services,Strategy, Risk and Accountability Standing Committee on the 14th.
White said he was surprised that the group went along with as much as they did adding that “if they do everything they said they would do in the meeting we will have succeeded.”
We now wait for the report.
Take a break and have a fun weekend.
The only down side is that it will come out on a Friday, usually a slow day – people want to enjoy the last long weekend of the summer and a chance to get out and enjoy RibFest and get used to whatever the new normal is going to look like.
It was a good day for the city, a good day for Stephen White and Julie Martin and a good day for Tim Commisso who had a problem that had gotten out of hand.
Commisso is reported to have reached out to the City Manager in Oakville to create a Task Force with the two CEO’s working together.
Philip Waggett.
Sorry friend my apologies.
I did not mean to infer a wholesale slaughter of coyotes. But as you stated. Just the problem coyotes.
Clearly aggressive measures had to be taken in Thunder Bay. 800 deer vehicle collisions is a matter of life and death. Coyotes while scary at the end of the day have not historically severely injured or killed many people in North America. The danger as I see it with coyotes is the way people will react or panic when they see one. Will they fall or step into traffic.
When a coyote begins to get spotted too often, with little fear of humans. Sorry but in my opinion it is time to go. We have one of these little devils at Spruce and Shoreacres. The little dogs and cats and rabbits also have a right to exist.
As far as hazing coyotes, Sling shots seem to work the best. Haven’t tried yet, as I have still to get and answer from the various Police Services or MNR Conservation Officers. If this practice is allowed.
From the amount of time it is taking to get an answer. I suspect it’s legal.
Thanks Pepper.
It was you mentioning That Mr Commisso was from Thunder Bay in another post that reminded me of the deer problem in Thunder Bay. Maybe a phone call to the MNR. up there might disclose how they handle their coyote problems. May I be as bold to say they probably don’t have a problem.
Hello all.
Let me give you an example of what leadership looks like. In Thunderbay the citizens were experiencing an incredibly high motor vehicle collision rate. The urban area of Thunderbay (The City part.). The amount of deer vehicle collisions numbered 800 per year. Clearly the thought of a 250 pound deer come slamming through your windshield at 60 kmh began to concern citizens. Taking everything into consideration the City council decided to reduce the number of deer in Thunderbay. They then did the unthinkable. They allowed the citizens to hunt deer within City limits. Now remember this is a City of 175 thousand people, about the size of Burlington. The stipulations were archery only, shooting from stands or platforms 10 feet or higher. Resulting in shooting at close distances into the ground for safety reasons and you had to be a licensed hunter having completed all the safety courses.
The deer vehicle collisions dropped by 700 and the road and the citizens are much safer. To date no archery accidents This has been in place since 2012. The Citiots of Burlington might learn something from people who hunt and fish and routinely see bears, moose, deer and other incredible species and understand what has to be done to manage animal numbers.
Not to mention knowing what a great venison roast tastes like.
. 2% of the population should not be telling the 98% what to do.
Editor’s note: The irony of this is too much to keep to myself. On Thursday when Stephen White was on a Zoom call with Tim Commisso, the City Manager he told the Gazette that Tim was in Thunder Bay, his home town and where he has family. I guess Commisso doesn’t read the Thunder Bay local newspapers.
Sorry, Alfred, what works with deer won’t work with coyotes. Coyotes are an apex predator attracted by the abundant prey–primarily rabbits, squirrels, mice and rats, in the City of Burlington. While there is a case to be made for eliminating problem coyotes, wholesale slaughter doesn’t work. Coyotes continue to move into the city to replace the coyotes you’ve removed since the attraction, the abundant prey, is still there. Far better to learn to live with these predators; that will mean not feeding them and taking proper precautions. I’ve been seeing coyotes in Burlington for the past 40 years including several relatively close encounters and I’ve never found them to be aggressive.
“The group decided that there would be a report to be made public on Friday (which is a very fast turn around) and discussed at the Corporate Services,Strategy, Risk and Accountability Standing Committee on the 14th.”
Well Friday has come and almost gone WHERE IS THE PROMISED REPORT?
How wonderful it is to see this problem moving forward. I am impressed, as well, by the respect for jurisdiction. I can’t wait to see the report.
Kudos to all those who brought this about. We know there are a lot of people very disturbed by the ignoring of a very significant health and safety issue that left unattended could only get worse.
Finally, hopefully concrete solutions to a serious problem.
Once again it takes public pressure to make things happen.