Cornwall Ontario Beavers

Beavers 1 – Smart City Manager 1 – Nasty Politicians 0 – Beavergate Team Presents to Cornwall Ontario City Council

CFN – I’m used to covering Cornwall City Council, but Monday night was special as I was part of a group to present to Council. Wyatt Walsh led the charge by asking CFN for help with the beaver trapping in Guindon Park. What happened from there is a text book case of abusive and ignorant attitudes from elected officials in response to an overwhelming demand from the public and what seems to be some petty personal response by some councilors and one particular manager to this scribbler and CFN.

Looks like the beaver-beleaguered city of Cornwall Ontario had an unbelievably exciting public wave on tuesday evening. You won’t want to skip reading the entire account here. Rebecca Sorrell, who had been promoting humane ways to live with beavers in person, on camera and to the media for weeks and weeks, was given time to address the council. And many people showed up to support the cause.

Rebecca spoke for our group. She greeted council in French and the proceeded to outline our journey and the hugely generous offer by The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals from BC that will be sending down an expert to implement devices that will preclude trapping as well as training city staff and volunteers. Those actions hopefully will forever banish Conibear traps from Guindon Park and we’re hoping that council pass such a by-law in the fall stating that.

Congratulations Team Cornwall! And Congratulations Furbearer defenders who raised money for this install that will be undertaken by our young friend Adrian Nelson! I am so proud of all of you, and remembering our dynamic city council meeting lo these many years ago, I’m honestly jealous of the civic buzz you must be feeling right now! Since we couldn’t get a quote from the beavers, here are some comments from the heroine herself….

These last few weeks have truly been an eye opening experience for me. I have learned first hand that the combined power of a group of individuals in search of a common goal is virtually unstoppable.

“I started this journey to save the beavers simply because I believed it was the right thing to do and a good opportunity to teach a life lesson to my daughter. I never would have imagined that I would be the one gaining the most from it. It truly restores my faith in humanity to see how united everyone was for our cause and to see how capable we were as a whole. It warms my heart to know that I had a role in evoking change in my community with the help of so many amazing people.

The friendships I have harvested during this battle will no doubt prove to become lifetime commitments. For all intents and purposes it would appear as though we achieved our goal. We saved the beavers of Guindon Park and we have pushed the city of Cornwall in the direction of progressive and humane change. I am looking forward to many evenings spent at Guindon Park observing these amazing creatures at work and I sleep soundly with the knowledge that my family will be safe in doing so.

From the bottom of my heart, to all involved, I extend the most sincere gratitude and thanks. To quote a lifetime hero of mine, Mr. Jack Layton, “Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.” I certainly didn’t this time nor will I for future battles on the horizon. This is only the beginning. The time for change is upon us and I have a new found confidence that not only is it possible but a certain reality.”

Victory in Cornwall! Last night in Ontario this woman and a few hundred supporters pushed the city council into agreeing to remove the remaining trap for the Guindon beavers and look into humane solutions. It’s a pretty lovely accomplishment and those of you who supported the Martinez Beavers should recognize just how much enthusiasm and energy it takes to stop that particular train.

Rebecca Sorrell launched her campaign against the practice a couple of weeks ago, collecting hundreds of names on a petition and marching to city hall with signs and supporters on Monday.

But it was a meeting with parks and recreation general manager Stephen Alexander on Wednesday that brought progress. “The meeting went really well,” said Sorrell. “The traps have been removed from Guindon Park.”

I have been hearing a bit about this case for a while, and its our featured “who’s killing beavers now” which, I’m happy to say, will no longer be featured. (Another year of pushing and we’ll be ready for a “who’s saving beavers now” segment!) The funny thing is that I was browsing through the incredible comment section of our own famous beaver-saving meeting (November 7, 2007) and found these remarks recently. They didn’t even register at the time and I didn’t know the woman who spoke them, (although I now can give credit for them to Linda Aguirre, who ended up helping us keep watch during the sheetpile debacle.)

The beavers have succeeded where city council and their politically correct friends could not: They brought people downtown. What a magnificent gift to have been given. We could use our beavers to promote downtown activities We could advertise our city as the beaver capital of CA. We could use these lovely creatures as an example of how we can co-habit with nature. We could host a beaver festival, promoting beaver and nature-related arts and crafts, windows on the lifestyle of the beavers and other wildlife, and yes even TShirts depicting our furry friends. You get the idea, capitalize on the beavers being here to make Martinez a destination, a concept that this city council claims to support. Yes we could do these things, if the beaver stay.

The majority of people want the beavers to stay, yet the council wants them to go, if you the council insists that the beavers must go, then maybe come next election I and others will insist that you go to.

Now for anyone following along from out of town THAT was the story. Not the beavers. Never the beavers. But the massive civic response they provoked. Congratulations Cornwall, and welcome to the beaver-saving club! I’ll write Mr. Alexander today.

This morning there were no beavers in sight but the creek held ample compensations. 11 newly hatched residents, with both mom AND dad in protective watch. Near as I can tell the three blondies are just color variations. (Or maybe there’s some kind of cuckoo duck who lays her eggs in unsuspecting neighbor nests and hopes for the best?) We’ll, let’s keep count and see if having an intact family unit makes things safer and if yellows really DO have more fun?