by PAUL RAYNER

An American hunter complaining of foreign hunting restrictions will get some support from the Boissevain & District Chamber of Commerce, but not in areas felt to be over sensitivity.

At their November 14 meeting, the Chamber had a letter to the editor from Dan Gapen, printed in the previous week’s Recorder brought to their attention. Gapen, a well known American hunting and fishing enthusiast with his own syndicated column and television program, had complained about prejudices against American hunters in Manitoba. He registered queries about the value of restricting American hunters to afternoon shooting until after October 16 and a host of possible other changes like requiring guides in the future. He also quoted the losses already suffered by Boissevain area businesses due to the lack of US hunters this past fall, saying the changes were damaging local economies.

After consideration, the Chamber decided to make out a resolution to go to proper authorities regarding the negative situation. At the November 28 meeting, a resolution was provided by Rhonda Coupland on the issue.

However, there were concerns about one of Gapen’s major concerns. The outdoorsman, who has visited the area for 46 years, complained of the use of the term “alien” for US hunter in regulations. In fact, this was the spark to his letter, his frustration over the moniker, which he felt indicated a relation to a creature from outer space, seemed to overshadow other issues in his presentation.

For some in the Chamber issue, it was an odd focus.

“This reference to ‘aliens’,” explained Ken Hole, “they used that term 20 to 30 years ago. I think he is over dramatizing that part.”

As other Chamber members in attendance stated, alien is the proper term for someone from outside of the country. In fact, it easily predates the ‘space alien’ usage, which actually has its root in the ‘non-citizen’ origin of the term. Formal legislation will always use proper terms to avoid confusion, and the frustration by Gapen over the proper usage of a word was felt not worth overshadowing the real situation.

Karen Harilstad mentioned this overshadowing might be a serious problem in bringing the issue to the attention of the authorities. It was important, she said, to make sure they were taken seriously for the right things, such as the threat to tourism in border communities, and not be pushed aside on the real issues in order to fight a semantic battle.

“This (the loss of American hunters) could be a serious issue for us,” she explained. “If the government only changes the alien part, we’re no further ahead.”

“I think it would be more useful to just push the restrictions part,” agreed Wayne Pringle.

To that end, the Chamber took a look at the proposed resolution. Parts of the resolution protesting the “alien” designation were deleted. Instead, it simply requested that the Manitoba Government support local communities by allowing American hunters the freedom to hunt full days for the full season and not consider restricting their stay in Canada or require them to employ a guide in order to hunt.

Copies are to be sent to the government and the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce on Boissevain Chamber letterhead.