FORT FRANCES — American fishing guides are alleged to have been abusing and violating our lakes integrity for decades and Canadian fishing guides are now seeking help from MP Marcus Powlowski to do something about the problem.
Powlowski met with concerned Canadian fishing guides on Tuesday, July 9, in Fort Frances who shared their concerns about American fishing guides allegedly abusing fair reciprocity rules between Ontario and Minnesota.
“We, myself and my guests fish Rainy Lake a lot too,” said Bill Godin, local Canadian fishing guide. “[I’m] just concerned about things we're seeing happening out there.”
Canadian fishing guides allege that American fishing guides are stepping onto Canadian soil both in summer and winter without having proper Canadian work permits or clearance from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to be in Canada.
“This wide-open area up here is just wide open for them to all come and guide every day,” said Hamilton. “Cause it's a joke to get work permits.”
Under Canadian law, Americans fishing in our waters can do so if they abide by the Ministry of Natural Resource’s regulations around licensing, catch limits and they can only work as guides if they have a seasonal Canadian work permit issued by Immigration Canada to do so.
An email from the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada written by communications advisor Jeffrey Macdonald said that American fishing guides come to Canada via the International Mobility Program (IMP) and that the IMP streams require an employment offer be submitted via IRCC’s employer portal.
Applications require evidence of significant benefit to Canadian citizens or permanent residents prior to obtaining a permit. The ministry was not able to provide statistics on number of permits issued in time for print.
“We talked to CBSA because in part of the border issue and patrolling and checking for work permits,” said Polowski. “We’ve asked to meet with them, and we repeatedly worked with our, in Ottawa CBSA people, trying to get things from them.”
Powlowski said that so far, they had not received any data from CBSA on the number of work permits being issued to Americans every year. He said that US fishing guides were not required to provide a labour market impact assessment to get a work permit to guide tourists in Canadian fishing waters.
Scott Hamilton, local fishing guide, alleged that American fishing guides can use the special work permit rule available to them to easily be allowed to work in Canada even though the process to get an American work permit is almost impossible for him.
“I don’t know why the IRCC continues to give these things out,” said Hamilton. “And they give it to them, it’s not just one day or two days, it’s a season long permit”.
Hamilton alleged that some American fishing guides do not even bother going through the process of applying for a work permit as they can just claim they are only fishing and not working when asked if they had a work permit.
“The other guys that have D.U.Is can't cut across the border here, but they can jump in the boats and come up,” said Hamilton. “They just go stay in the Minnesota side, they all come up, they fish.”
Darren Ward, local fishing guide, alleged that there are a big number of boats that go through Bears pass in front of his lodge and that these boats are subjected to minimal or no checks as they move up into Canada through the many inlets that move north from Rainy Lake.
Canadian fishing guides alleged that fishing guides from the U.S. are going far inland into Canadian territory under an old treaty that allows them to transit through Canadian waters if they don’t touch land, don’t anchor in Canadian waters, or touch another boat.
Dave Poirier, local Canadian lodge owner, alleged that he has encountered Americans landing on his dock asking if his lodge had a bar in blatant violation of border customs regulations. He alleged that the Americans told him they were staying at the Thunderbird Lodge in Minnesota.
“You better get back in your boat, cus you’re breaking the law,” said Poirier.
Powlowski requested that Canadian Fishing Guides document future infractions they witness in an affidavit so that he can bring the issue to the attention of the proper ministries responsible for enforcing our laws on our lakes.
He said he asked for a boat from the RCMP to come down and help enforce the rules in Rainy Lake, but this extra patrol boat has not yet been deployed to help combat illegal activity.
We may want to challenge the existing rules,” said Polowski. “The whole thing is based on reciprocity, which there’s clearly no reciprocity.”
Dale Labelle, Canadian fishing guide, alleged that Minnesotan fishing guides advertise against going to Canada to fish and instead promote their destinations to get around having to go through customs to fish in Canada.
“There’s resorts up by me, there’s three of them now, that are closed or closing down,” said Hamilton. “It’s so unfair, it’s so crazy what happens here.”
Hamilton alleged that resorts on the Canadian side are closing while resorts in Minnesota are booming from the exploitation of Canadian fishing and immigration regulations.
“I mean don’t we want hotels in Fort Frances?” said Hamilton.
“The Rendez-Vous should have a great big giant dock right there. There should be guys going outside, pulling in every morning at 7 o’clock in the morning, and taking em up like it is on the Minnesota side.”
Canadian fishing guides alleged that American tourists who come here to fish Walleye are often motivated to find the biggest fish that live so deep in the water, the fish suffer from barotrauma by the time they are pulled out of the water.
They said that even if the fish are released, they still have no chance of surviving the encounter.
Canadian fishing guides also alleged that American fishing boats bring invasive zebra mussels with them into the Canadian side of the lakes and that they bring foreign live bait with them.
The use of live bait is restricted under Ontario fishing regulations and the importation of live animals is subject to Canadian Border Customs regulations.
Government regulations around the use of bait fish said that fishermen may not use live bait without buying it from a commercial Canadian license holder, and that they cannot fish with their own live bait in Canada unless it is caught next to their primary residence and used nearby.
In an email response from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the Ministry said that they conduct monitoring and research programs that ensure the ministry can make natural resource management decisions based on the best available science.
They said this research helps support world-class hunting and fishing experiences that draw enthusiast not only from our province, but across Canada and the world.
The MNR’s email response said that conservation officers routinely patrol the lakes, rivers and lands of Ontario using outreach and education to promote the importance and value of Ontario’s natural resources and the safety of those enjoying them.
It said that the MNR prioritize the protections of Ontario’s natural resources by focussing their efforts on illegal activities to ensure the future generations can enjoy what the province has to offer.
The MNR said that members of the public can call the MNR TIPS line toll-free at 1-877-847-7667 or call crime stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-tips to report a suspected natural resource violation.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
