Volunteers often represent resident anglers’ and hunters’ interests on government-initiated committees. The volunteers acting on your behalf as a resident often do this at large personal expense, both monetary, and in terms of the time commitment. The volunteers who represent resident hunters and anglers are not asking to be paid for their work, but they are asking for government to stop wasting their time.
One such committee is the Provincial Hunting Regulations and Allocation Advisory Committee, or PHRAAC. The PHRAAC process is not working for resident hunters for many reasons including:
- Action items were submitted to the committee on behalf of resident hunters several years ago and government has shown little willingness to discuss, address and implement the recommendations. The review process is stagnated and recommendations never get the attention they should.
- The allocation policy that was signed off on, and put into government policy in 2007, is being applied inconsistently and often contrary to the agreement in many parts of the province. This opinion has been brought forth at PHRAAC numerous times, but government has shown no interest in addressing the issue.
- Decisions at PHRAAC need to be informed by accurate and recent information. Government says they are committed to providing this information, but in reality, the information is rarely provided in a timely or adequate matter. The information has at times never been provided at all, even after repeated requests.
- Government itself does not seem committed to the PHRAAC process. Government representation on PHRAAC is continually changing, which leads to inconsistency in understanding of the process, rehashing, misinterpretation, and commitments being forgotten. Meetings are called and there is often a lack of government staff participating.
- Significant changes in regulations have been implemented without discussion and approval at PHRAAC. These changes often seem to be in response to the interests of strong lobby groups.
