Wrestler-turned-Governor furious about Ontario fishing rules
By GILLIAN LIVINGSTON -- Canadian Press
He's hurled other opponents out of the ring before, and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is using his new political status to try to throw Ontario's restrictive fishing regulations out of the water.
Ventura, a former pro wrestler known as "The Body," is fighting mad at Ontario's fishing rules.
Ventura -- who now prefers to be called "The Mind" -- won as a third-party candidate in last November's elections in the United States.
He says Ontario's fishing regulations have hurt Minnesota resorts, fishing guides and tourism, and complained to U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky last week.
"Ontario should not be allowed to get away with discriminatory rules that are blatantly unfair to Minnesota businesses," Ventura said.
Minnesotans aren't allowed to keep certain fish they catch in Canadian waters of Minnesota-Ontario border lakes unless they spend the night in the province.
Minnesota borders Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. Dozens of lakes lap both provincial and state shores.
Last January, the province's Natural Resources ministry announced fishing restrictions for non-Canadian anglers to protect walleye and sauger stocks.
The ministry complained that it had tried to get Minnesotans to reduce their harvest of these fish for years but was unsuccessful.
The new rule means non-Canadian anglers who don't stay overnight in Ontario can't keep any of the walleye or sauger they catch in the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods or Rainy River. Other fish can be kept, up to certain limits.
If U.S. anglers stay overnight in Ontario, they can keep two walleye and up to four sauger, along with other fish.
John Wodele, director of communications for Ventura, said the rule seems like a grab for tourism dollars by the province.
"Hey, Canada is a nice place to visit," Wodele said. "You don't have to coerce us in."
Ontario's rules aren't fair to Minnesotans and they go against trade treaties, he added.
"It's very simple -- the rules apply differently to Minnesotan fishermen than they do to Ontario fishermen.
"On the face of it, 'it just ain't fair,' as the governor would say," he said. "It just seems like we ought to be more neighbourly."
The restrictions have hurt northern Minnesota's resort industry. Tourism operators complained during last November's elections, Wodele said.
Ventura has asked Barshefsky to look into the matter, Wodele said, and has appointed Minnesota commissioner Gerald Carlson to represent the state in any talks. They will likely contact Ontario officials soon, he said.
Ventura isn't the first American to howl about Ontario policies. When the Natural Resources Ministry announced last month that the spring bear hunt would be cancelled to stop the orphaning of cubs, U.S. rock star Ted Nugent was outraged.
An outspoken hunting and pro-gun crusader, Nugent said he's organizing a boycott of the province by U.S. tourists.
"I don't think the people of Ontario expect the Governor of Minnesota or an aging rock star to dictate our wildlife or fish policies," said John Snobelen, Natural Resources Minister.
"I believe that a large number of people in the border states were concerned, as we were, about the orphaning of bear cubs."
Although Ventura hasn't yet called him about the fishing rules, Snobelen said he'd like to sit down with the governor and talk it over.
"We're hoping we can have some real substantive conversations with them over the next little while," he said. "We have a mutual responsibility for those fish stocks."
But Wodele scoffed at Ontario's concerns, saying if the ministry was worried about conservation then the rules would apply equally to both Canadian and American anglers.
The province has already placed restrictions on Ontario anglers'
catch of walleye and sauger.
And while Snobelen said he was concerned about Nugent's complaint, he found some humour in it.
"I spent an entire evening looking for my eight tracks so I could send them back to him."
