REGINA, Sask. — Opposition New Democrats and a Saskatchewan hunter were calling for the government to reinstate the voluntary testing program for chronic wasting disease as soon as possible.
MLAs Trent Wotherspoon and Jared Clarke, as well as John Perret, a hunter who appeared by video from Saskatoon, spoke of the impact the decision to end the program would have on hunting and on controlling the disease.
“Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disease that infects deer, moose, elk in our province,” Wotherspoon said.
“Animals infected with it are not recommended for human consumption by Health Canada. It's been found in 63 out of the 83 wildlife zones in Saskatchewan. This is not an area where government should be making cuts and to pull the rug out from under hunters or to end disease surveillance. This is why you're seeing hunters and wildlife groups, people across this province, understandably calling out this backwards decision by this government.”
Wotherspoon said he himself is an “avid lifelong hunter” and said he has “a proud family history of making deer sausage together, and we rely on this voluntary program to offer the peace of mind with the testing. And hunters across this province deserve that peace of mind.”
He questioned the government’s rationale that ending the program was about efficiency.
“Now, this isn't efficient. It won't save hunters a dime and it really does put much at risk. And it ends, of course, that very important disease surveillance within our province. This program, this decision should be immediately reversed and this program should be restored for hunters. It's completely wrong, unacceptable for this government to pull the rug out from hunters mid-season and to do so without any consultation or understanding of its impacts and its risks.”
Clarke said that “cutting a critical monitoring program that tests for a devastating disease like chronic wasting disease is not a place to find efficiencies.”
“We will now be the only province or state in North America who has CWD and is not testing for it. And we have some of the highest concentrations of chronic wasting disease in all of the world. And yet, this government is going to now put its head in the sand and pretend like CWD doesn't exist.”
He noted that other provinces where animals have tested positive for chronic wasting disease — B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec — all have ongoing monitoring programs, as do jurisdictions in the United States.
Perret called this issue “non-partisan” and said it “covers a lot of different hunters in all walks of life. And I'm kind of glad that the NDP has taken this up and gone with it.”
“I think the government of the day is missing the boat on keeping this program going. I know that I have used the program consistently for probably at least 30 years since CWD came on the radar and it has been good for me. I've had a number of positives in two or three different zones. And we have not consumed the meat.”
Perret said that he doesn’t “want my children and my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren now to be guinea pigs for this problem.”
“It says it hasn't jumped the species, but with the new increase in the moose population and it's gone from deer and elk now to moose. And so it's moving along. So I think it could possibly be a health risk to families and hunters that are using, you know, that are consuming wild meat.”
Perret added that he thought the government “kind of dropped this on us unexpectedly.” He said he might not have applied for some particular zones had he known about this move.
“I noticed that we have in the past applied for zones going east and they have been less contaminated. But looking at the statistics now, it does go all the way from the Alberta border to all the way into Manitoba. So there's no stopping it. So the risk factor for the consumption of meat, I think, is a lot higher.”
Government could take a second look at decision, says Moe
Speaking to reporters in Saskatoon, Premier Scott Moe was asked about the end of the testing program and indicated that perhaps the government could relent on the issue.
“We'll be looking at that decision,” Moe said.
“Many MLAs have been speaking with hunters and with stakeholders throughout the province, and we certainly will have a look at that decision. Not in the realm of maybe bringing it back to precisely what it was, but is there a way for us to move forward to have that service available for our hunters across the province and those that pay to come hunt here, whether it be through an outfitter or what that might be.”
Moe said the decision to end testing was “made from a budgetary perspective, as I said earlier. We have priorities as a government about where our investments are flowing. Health care, education, community safety, ensuring Saskatchewan remains the most affordable place in the nation… ”
“On this particular decision, we will be meeting later this week, talking with MLAs to understand what they're hearing from hunters and stakeholders in their area, and is there a way for us to work to a better outcome where the service is available, but it isn't a full ask of the government of Saskatchewan.”
