Team NOSA - Events

Canadian Tire Comes Through For 2011

The Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen’s Alliance (NOSA) got an early gift from Santa Claus this year as Arthur Street Canadian Tire Store manager Bruce Stone contacted me to tell me both Thunder Bay Canadian Tire locations were committed to sponsoring the 2011 NOSA dinner event to be held at the beginning of April. I’ll admit I was a bit worried as to whether or not Canadian Tire was on board again for the 2011 dinner as I had not heard back from Bruce after pitching the idea to him some weeks before. But this should not have surprised me as the Christmas season bears down on retailers like Canadian Tire; clearly the staff at both stores are quite busy as they load up Santa’s sleigh with a whole lot of consumer wishes this season! So with business booming at Canadian Tire, it just took a bit of time before Bruce got back to me with the great news and the entire NOSA Directorship and members could not be happier.

Canadian Tire &ldquot;gets it” as I like to say, considering just this past autumn as hunting season was fast upon us, our Ont. Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) imposed a ban on the use of deer urine products while retailers such as Canadian Tire had already months before stocked shelves with the stuff, in anticipation of the upcoming hunting season. To say that the ownership and top level management of Canadian Tire was unimpressed is a gross understatement. We’re talking hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of dollars in potential retail sales and spin offs that were affected by what NOSA claims is an unsubstantiated move by OMNR. It’s a disturbing trend by Ontario’s government leaving NOSA questioning Ontario’s commitment to the hunting retail and tourism industry in general.

[+]click to enlarge

When I asked Bruce Stone, manager and owner of the Arthur St. Canadian Tire location about his thoughts on the deer urine ban, he poignantly stated, “f an all out ban on this product was what the Ontario government was shooting for, then the very least they could have done was provided some warning and allow some time for retailers to get rid of their existing stock rather than disregard us altogether like they did – that’s not the way to do business.”

I totally share the Canadian Tire store owner’s opinion and NOSA has worked to oppose this ill thought out plan by OMNR, however with little meaningful response from the Ontario government.

James Ianetti, general manager at the Fort William road Canadian Tire store recently told me, “We appreciate the business of the outdoor community and Canadian Tire strives to make sure we provide quality products to hunters and anglers because we value their business.”

Clearly, Canadian Tire is concerned from a retail standpoint that certain hunting and fishing heritage activities need groups like NOSA to step up and fight to represent the views of stakeholders in light of Provincial and Federal government legislative changes that are often politically motivated with little consideration for the economy or the people who pay worker wages and provide billions in tax dollars to these governments.

The Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen’s Alliance is proud to lobby and carry these messages to government and we are even more proud of our relationship with the likes of Thunder Bay’s Canadian Tire locations.

We encourage our families and membership to continue their patronage of these stores and remember their role in assisting us in the fight for your hunting and fishing heritage rights and values. Got some Christmas shopping left to do? Don’t forget to visit Canadian Tire to do it!