A considerable amount of backlash and opposition has forced a rethink of the debate concerning hunting within Coquitlam city limits.

Council asked staff Monday to re-examine a proposed bylaw banning the discharge of bows and arrows and firearms in areas across Coquitlam.

Coquitlam resident Paul Juokso spoke to council Monday and outlined a number of concerns he and others in the hunting community see in the proposed bylaw: how the shift would impact local businesses, above average Canada geese populations and the amount of public consultation involved in the debate to date.

"No matter what laws are passed, there will always be people who refuse to obey them," he said. "I don't believe this bylaw will stop any of the incidents that have caused the concerns in the first place."

Monday's presentation came as a result of a notice of motion that originally sought to ban the discharge of bows and arrows in the city. Council passed the first three readings of the bylaw in mid-January.

That initial notice of motion was brought forward as a response to two separate reports of bears being shot with arrows in the area of Minnekhada Regional Park last summer.

In drafting up the bylaw, however, city staff also added provisions that would ban the discharge of firearms across the city, a clause that frustrated hunters and other outdoors enthusiasts.

"It was a staff assessment that a firearm ban was a long-term goal for the city and we did put that in there as a ban," said Bill Susak, the city's manager of engineering and public works. "There are ways of getting around that. There are permits that can be applied for. But we're in the process here of also listening to the delegation, listening to the tenor and tone of council, and if the desire is that we re-examine where we're at, that's what we intend to do."

Mayor Richard Stewart said in an interview Tuesday that the addition of the firearms clause was likely an unintended circumstance, particularly given that about 20 per cent of the city's lands are open to hunting at various times of the year.

"It's somewhat unfortunate that firearms got dragged into a bylaw that was a response to a notice of motion on shooting bears with a bow and arrow," he said.

"I think the staff report bit off more than council had intended and we're now finding that. I don't think that many people in Coquitlam are aware, and I certainly wasn't, of the extent of Coquitlam in which hunting currently takes place. I suspect that staff didn't [know] either."

The firearms ban would have applied to areas around Deboville Slough, Goose Island, Addington Marsh and Widgeon Slough, among other places - a considerable tract of land that Stewart compared in size to Maillardville.

Each of those areas is open to hunting at various times of the year. Hunting Canada geese in particular is allowed on Goose Island for five months each year.

"The effect of removing the winter hunt for geese will most likely increase the geese population at Como Lake and other parks and sports fields in the Fraser Valley," Juokso said.

Stewart noted that in re-examining the bylaw, it's his hope that staff will go back to the original intent of the notice of motion and deal with bows and arrows only. He added that the debate around the discharge of firearms could, and likely should, be dealt with as a separate issue.

City staff are expected to have a revamped bylaw ready for council to review before next summer.

jkurucz@thenownews.com

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