I fought the Law and ...

[mercman]

Ron, I tip my hat to you. It takes someone special to stand up and fight for whats right. I am from Quebec, far from your fight, but i will add a C note to the pot to help you win the battle. Maybe other municipalities will learn not to mess with us in the future.

Bravo to you my friend. Just let me know where to send the cash.

 

 

Paul

[danc]

Add me to the list of spiritual and financial supporters of your cause Ron. You're tireless fight for fishing rights is amazing. I'm happy to call you a friend.

[crossover]

Do people who trap for sport (not including those who want to transport wildlife or keep it for study) really take a quick picture and release the rabid mammal on its way? Sounds like a weak comparison to me.

[Musky or Specks]

Are you sure your Canadian? Must have some Reil blood in you. Your fight is inspiring.

 

A counter charge of interfering with your rights as an angler under the provincial fishing legislation should be laid against the town council.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Musky or Specks

[SylvanOwner]

Are you sure your Canadian? Must have some Reil blood in you. Your fight is inspiring.

 

A counter charge of interfering with your rights as an angler under the provincial fishing legislation should be laid against the town council.

 

 

This IS the best idea yet.

 

Keep at it.

[Mike01]

Good luck, keep us posted.

[Governator]

you made the paper ron http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3138201

 

 

What a great article. Good going Ron - keep us all posted! You're one smart & dedicated man.

[Michael_Brown]

 

 

Ron would be the bear and Cobourg council should quash these by-laws before they damage their angling based tourism and public image. A lot of voters fish.

[GBW]

A counter charge of interfering with your rights as an angler under the provincial fishing legislation should be laid against the town council.

Great idea! How would one do that though? *hint, help Ron with the details so he can do it*

[Aaron Shirley]

Ron, you're such a rebel! lol I think you have the support of many on this one, including myself. Our rights as anglers have been slowly eroding in Ontario, despite the fact we have legislation implemented by past Premiere Mike Harris with the Fishing and Hunting Heritage Act. This act was supposed to support our rights to fish and hunt. Obviously, there are exceptions for obvious reasons, like fish and wildlife sanctuaries, certain parks and recreation areas etc.

 

Your case does not appear to be one of those reasonable exceptions and opens up a big can of worms. Exactly what you wanted, and for good reason. It's a ballsy move on your part, but you are an activist fighting for a good cause.

 

In my area, the Town of Oakville has done something similar to the old "social sanctuary" that was lifted a few years ago. As soon as the OMNR removed the sanctuary from Bronte Creek from Hwy 2 to Rebecca St., the Town of Oakville put in a new by-law to ban fishing in that stretch of Bronte Creek. As far as I am concerned, this may actually be illegal by Provincial law - The Fishing and Hunting Heritage Act? As Michael has noted, this is at the very least discrimination to one user group, as people may do anything they wish on this land but fish. It sounds like your case Ron is very similar to the Bronte Creek issue with the Town of Oakville and anglers.

 

Your case can be argued on many levels. First, there was a swath of enforcement reading by-laws just to try and come up with something to charge you. This gives you an argument off the hop. Secondly, it doesn't sound like there were any signs posted about a fish and wildlife refuge on protected land. Another argument. Third, their by-law may conflict with Provincial legislation designed to protect angler's and hunter's rights. I thought only the Provincial or Federal Government could legislate a fish and wildlife refuge? I don't know the answer to this, but something to look into to determine the legitimacy of the by-law you were charged with. Fourth, public scrutiny and outrage to allow fishing on the pier, or at least a compromise for the East pier may be possible if enough people send e-mails to the right authorities. The more people that send e-mails to town council on this matter, the more possible it will be to have your court case end favorable for you... and ultimately, for anglers. If anyone knows the proper e-mail to send to the township of Cobourg, lease post it here.

 

There is no good reason to ban fishing on the piers that I can think of in your case. Unfortunately, your scenario is becoming more prevalent across Ontario, just like Bronte Creek, and countless other examples. Shore access spots are disappearing quickly around my area and over our Province. This concerns me a great deal when piers, pond and creek shore access is taken away or banned from fishing. Apart from discrimination, kids will not have anywhere to begin fishing from shore if this continues. I started fishing at the age of 9, riding my bike with a rod over the handle bars to fish the very areas that are being slowly stripped away from us and our kids.

 

Good luck Ron!

 

As a side note:

 

We have a Provincial election coming up this fall people!!! This election is the time to act and put our great pastime in the limelight with the party leaders. Public pressure on political leaders will work if enough of us act, especially during an election campaign. I tried to get people here to see this over late winter, but I realize I was going about it the wrong way. An "unorganized write a letter and mail it to party leaders before this fall election" will not realistically gain much support. After watching the success of openmedia.ca simple webpage with a form type petition to email political leaders to fight for the internet, the light bulb went off. This can be a simple and easy way to send our Provincial leaders a message during their campaign and put fishing rights for Ontarians in the spotlight. Anybody want to help me with this? Ron? I know of a cheap way to host a webpage. I can write a letter in conjunction with some of you. I don't know where to start for the form aspect of the webpage and email address for all party leaders.

 

Sorry Ron, didn't mean to hijack your thread. This type of thing has been really bothering me for quite some time now, and I want to do something about it. I admire your tenacity and wish you luck with your court case. I'll send you a PM.

 

Aaron

[NBR]

While I agree with you in principle there might be cause for not allowing fishing from marina property. If your lawyers and people are as prone to suits as they are here in the U.S.the marina could be put in financial duress if someone should fall from their property and suffer loss of life or serious injury. If it was my marina in the states I would be very hesitant to allow bank or pier fishing. Fishing from a boat would be a different matter.

[Sis]

I am so proud to be able to call you my friend!! I'd say don't back down, but already know that you won't. People like you who have the guts to stand up for what they believe in make the world a better place!

Love ya Ron!!!

[Homer Is King]

Good job Ron, way to dig in your heels!

 

To clarify, (correct me if I'm wrong Ron): Ron's not fighting to be allowed to fish in the marina. There is a by-law that clearly states that you can not. It lists several areas in the Cobourg Harbour where fishing is not allowed. Ron was fishing in an area the is not listed in the by-law, the east pier. People have been chased off of this spot and not allowed to fish. Ron's arguing that it is not part of the by-law and people should be allowed to fish there.

 

Google Map of Cobourg Pier

[HTHM]

bump, just cause this is important

[Stoty]

Wow, I had this exact same thing happen to me last spring!

I know exactly who the old (grumpy) fart is that comes storming out, pretending he owns the city!

 

He came out and literally swore at my buddy and I "Hey.... balh, blah, blah, you're not allowed to fish in the harbour."

 

We (pretty bluntly) said we could, and to leave us alone. He then threatened the cops on us, to which we also replied to feel free and go call. (He never did).

 

But he then proceeded to go to the launch and LOCK it, so we couldn't get out.

 

We then proceeded into the office, and confronted this old fart, to which he crumbled like a soda cracker, and just said that we owed the launch fee, LOL.

 

GOOD JOB RON.... I will def be fishing there in the very near future, with a big on my face!

[Stoty]

Sorry, and the "Centre Pier" is the main part you can drive your car out on?

 

No, I believe that is the east pier.

See the above map of the Cobourg Marina.

[Garnet]

The liability's are no more or less than any ball diamond hockey arena any public park or beach.

[16sailor]

Way to go Ron I too grew up in Cobourg and fished the harbor all the time while growing up and still live in the area now with my daughter growing up I want to be able to take her out for a fish and the harbour is a perfect for her

Ron when is your day in court My daughter and i will be there with fishing poles in hand at the court house in support any one else want to join us on that day just friendly rally in support Stand and talk about fishing while Ron has his day in court the more the better hopefully the point will get across.

[otter649]

The Outdoor Journal (Fishing Canada) on The Fan 590 Radio (28) this morning mentioned this

dispute & the newspaper article with support for Ron.....

[lew]

Your doing a great thing here Ron and it's gonne be very interesting to see how it plays out.

[Nipfisher]

Good job Ron.

The North Bay marina also has no fishing by-law. There are many anglers who fish from the peir into the marina without ever getting into trouble. I beleive North Bay is just stopping people from trolling and casting inside the marina.

My question is.....what about ice-fishing? It seems like you can't ice fish in North Bay marina...can you drill a hole and ice fish in the coburg marina during the winter?

[Stoty]

Funny you ask that.... because there was a picture in the Cobourg paper over the winter with a guy that had a portable hut setup and was ice fishing in the middle of the harbour...they chased him out as well. Even though it appears as though he wasn't doing a thing wrong!

[Ron]

Thanks everyone for your support and more importantly, your opinions, good or bad. Seriously, the bad opinions are well received, just the same. A few items that need to be clarified for those of you who do not know the area.

 

The fine I was issued, is in reference to:

 

Consolidated Parks By-law

number 064-2010

 

A By-law to regulate, protect and govern

the use of parks, public open spaces

in the Town of Cobourg.

 

Protection of Wildlife

8. While in a park, no person shall:

 

(1) Kill, attempt to kill, trap, hunt, pursue or in any manner disturb any

animal, bird, waterfowl, FISH, worms or any other wildlife, provided that

provision shall not apply to any person, fishing in Provincially or

Federally legislated waters unless otherwise posted;

 

Subsequently, if you read the article posted in our local News paper (link here), you can take judgment to your own opinion. As I posted above on this thread, the By-law 79-91, clearly shows where you are NOT allowed to fish. The signs posted on the hand rails, Transformer stations, clearly show this as well. For those of you who have any doubt where I was fishing, I was on the EAST PIER. Clearly the EAST PIER is NOT listed in BY-law 79-91. That is the reason why they did not charge me under this by-law. There is no doubt the Cobourg Harbour is Provincially or Federally legislated waters. I have documents on their way to prove this. I have spoken with several levels of Goverment, to name a few, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Service Ontario, Ministry of Natural Resources, Special Lands and Waters Assessment Unit.

 

I will be attending the next council meeting to speak in regards to the By-laws.

 

This has drawn much attention in the media. I have had a couple of radio talk shows contact me and I have also had 2 other News Papers contact me as well.

 

To be clear to everyone, There is no By-law restricting me from fishing where I was. They have charged me for hunting/trapping/ killing/ attemping to kill a fish. The sergeant would not agree the harbour was Provincially or Federally legislated waters. The sergeant also told me the New By-law (Consolidated Parks By-law number 064-2010) over rode the By-law 79-91 as it was a newer By-law.

 

2 of the responding Police Officers, questioned the act of the By-law, in fact, 1 Constable refused to issue the ticket as he was too embarrassed to have his name affiliated to the charge.

 

Another point worth noting:

 

The by-law they charged me under, 064-2010 section 8.1, if I do not take this to trial, they can charge everyone who fishes any lake or stream, body of water in the Town of Cobourg. This could potentially put an end to fishing for trout or any other species for that matter, in Cobourg.

 

Once again, I am not concerned for myself, I am pretty sure people will vouch for me when I say I fish all over Ontario, I do not need to fish in a Harbour and be a rebellion against the Law. When you see kids getting bullied by adults, by-law enforcement officers and Police officers, telling them they can not fish in the Harbour, someone needs to protect these rights for the kids that enjoy fishing. They should not have to feel like a criminal for enjoying the Natural Resources.

 

Cheers, Ron...

Edited June 1, 2011 by Ron

[Grimace]

Good on ya. They seem to be trying to make a square out of a circle here. Good luck.

[Billy Bob]

Good Job Ron.......I just hope they don't write another stupid By-Law to include the area you were fishing in to patch the loop holes in their own laws, but instead see the light and encourage kids to go FISHING as you are trying to do.

 

If you need some Rednecks for a protest I'm sure I could round up a posse of them....

 

Bob