OC Online - For Better or For Worse

text by Outdoor Canada editors
photos courtesy of individuals

For Better Or Worse (part 7)

Prior to their ignominious fall from grace over fishing violations, Henry Waszcuk (left) and Italo Labignan hosted Canadian Sportfishing, one of the most popular fishing shows in the country. Indeed, the personable and knowledgeable duo made fishing fun for thousands of armchair anglers each week. They were at the top of their game when, in 1998, they were fined $1,800 for several fishing violations, including catching bass out of season. “The backlash from the public to Henry and Italo is startling and absolutely amazing,” the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association’s Rick Amsbury told Report on Business Magazine at the time. If anything, the incident served to underscore that Canadians take their fishing shows—and conservation—very seriously. Today, Labignan continues to host Canadian Sportfishing, while Waszcuk stars in his own shows, Fins & Skins and Fishing the Flats—suggesting the viewing public has decided to give the repentant pair a second chance.

Sure he’s publisher and owner of Sentier chasse-pêche, Quebec’s only monthly hunting and fishing magazine, but Luc Lemay’s influence goes far beyond the publication’s 600,000-plus readers. He’s also head of Montreal-based Groupe polygone éditeurs, one of Quebec’s largest communications companies. Along with publishing Sentier, Polygone is also behind the National Great Outdoors Show, Quebec’s largest such consumer show. As well, Lemay’s company publishes best-selling how-to books on hunting and fishing, while producing the fishing and hunting program Bon pêche for French-language television. An avid waterfowler, 57-year-old Lemay is also a board member of Saumon limité and a longtime contributor to Duck’s Unlimited.

Yeah, we know, some of you think they’re lightweights, but B.C. natives Shelley Todd (right) and Courtney Hatfield have nonetheless done plenty to popularize sportfishing. Through their hit television show, Fishing with Shelley & Courtney, the 29-year-olds provide millions of wannabes and others with useful fish facts, tips and recipes, along with fishing action from a variety of Pacific locales. Their show currently appears on seven different channels in Canada and the U.S., including the Outdoor Life Network, which reaches more than five million Canadian households. Proving its appeal, the show was the Nielsen Ratings winner as 2000’s most-watched fishing program in Canada, and for two years running it has won the U.S.-based Outdoor Channel’s “Fan Favourite” award.

“Common Sense” revolutionary Mike Harris vaulted into power as premier of Ontario in 1995, in part thanks to the support of anglers and hunters. Initially viewed as an ally because of his northern Ontario roots and his claim to be an “avid sportsman,” Harris made a lot of changes during his tenure—but not in the way many had hoped. One of his first moves was to slash the Fish and Wildlife Branch’s annual budget from $82 million to $42 million. He also approved the cancellation of the spring bear hunt in Ontario, a move seen as kowtowing to political pressure at the expense of wildlife management imperatives. Perhaps in a final act of contrition before leaving office earlier this year, Harris and his government tabled Bill 135, which recognizes the “right to hunt and fish in accordance with the law.” It has yet to be enacted.