The Conservative MPP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington says provincial conservation officers who keep an eye on the fisheries in Wheatley are staying put.
Rick Nicholls says there are no approved plans to relocate officers as they help protect the fisheries and help prevent overfishing.
“Conservation officers play a critical role in preserving and protecting Ontario’s natural resources, including our fisheries,” says Nicholls.” At this time there are no approved plans to relocate officers that are stationed in Wheatley to another location.”
However, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says there are provincial documents which show the ministry poised to move the officers 50 kilometers away to an office in Chatham.
Nicholls calls the assertion "fear mongering.”
“It’s unfortunate that the NDP and their big union pals at OPSEU have decided to use our government’s first budget as an opportunity to fear monger. Again, there are no approved plans to relocate officers stationed in Wheatley to another location.”
OPSEU claims the move endangers Lake Erie.
“We’ve seen a lot of foolish decisions from this government, but this one could win the derby,” said OPSEU President Warren “Smokey” Thomas in a statement. “If they’re not stationed by the lake, who’s going to enforce the law and stop the kind of overfishing that could lead to a complete collapse?
“Moving the conservation officers so far away is like closing the local police department and expecting the officers to enforce the laws from three towns down the highway,” added Thomas.
Wheatley is known as the freshwater fish capital of the world.
