Meeting with your MLA

Contacting your MLA

This document provides information that may be useful if you plan on contacting your MLA regarding grizzly bear recovery in Alberta. It covers:

• How to contact your MLA
• Why it is important to contact your MLA
• Talking points to discuss with your MLA
• Coordinating a group meeting with your MLA

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact carlm@sierraclub.ca .
 

How to contact your MLA

To find your MLA and their contact information:

• Go to www.elections.ab.ca
• Click [who is my MLA]
• Use the various search options to find your MLA and their contact information
• Or Dial 310-0000 and have the operator assist you

Call or email your MLA’s constituency office. You will likely reach an assistant. Explain that you would like to arrange a meeting (by phone or in person) with your MLA and what it is regarding.
 

Why it is important to contact your MLA

Ecologically speaking, grizzly bear recovery is very possible. The major road block is lack of political will. In order to foster this political commitment we must demonstrate public support.

Political commitment and public support are fundamental for a successful recovery. Recovery simply won’t happen without these two elements!

Writing letters is great but speaking with your MLA literally guarantees your voice will be heard. When people take the time to contact their MLA it indicates that this is not an isolated issue.

MLA’s are also in a direct position to influence policy, budget and program decisions that can ultimately affect grizzly recovery. They can bring these issues to the legislature and influence other key decision makers.

All MLA’s are responsible to represent the concerns and issues of their constituency.
 

The objective of your meeting is twofold:

1) Share your concerns with your MLA

• •    This will inform your MLA about the major issues facing grizzly bears and what is required for a successful recovery
• •    This will indicate to your MLA that other constituents share similar concerns

2) Ask your MLA to commit to fully supporting grizzly bear recovery

• •    Ask them to write you a follow-up letter stating their support for recovery
• •    Ask them to send a letter stating their support to:
  • •    Alberta Premier
  • •    Minister of Sustainable Resource Development
  • •    President of the Treasury Board

Talking points to discuss with your MLA

Your meeting may only last 15 to 20 min. It may be a good idea to write an informal agenda to help you stay on track.
If it helps you can break your meeting into three agenda items:

1) Introduce yourself and explain why you are concerned
2) Discuss your concerns and what you would like the government to do
3) Ask your MLA to support recovery

Below are talking points for each agenda item that might be helpful when crafting your message. More information can be found on our website.
 

1) Introduce yourself and explain why you are concerned

• Scientists estimate there are fewer than 700 grizzlies remaining in Alberta
• Alberta is on the receding edge of grizzly bear range in North America
• Disappearing grizzlies are an indication of disappearing wilderness. Alberta’s biodiversity and wilderness should be cherished and protected
• •    Grizzly bears are considered an umbrella species; taking action to protect grizzly bear habitat essentially protects a host of other plants and animals that fall under this umbrella of protection. This also helps protect many watersheds which are a critical for Alberta’s water supply and an important resource for our economy
• Alberta is spending millions to re-brand a new slogan: “Alberta. Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve.” – What other Alberta icon represents “freedom” and “spirit” better than the grizzly bear
• Grizzly bear recovery is possible but it will require strong political commitment and leadership to be successful

2) Discuss your concerns and what you would like the government to do

Action Grizzly Bear would like to see immediate implementation of five fundamentals for recovery. These are known as the B.E.A.R.S. Essential for Recovery:

• Budget dedicated for recovery
• Endangered species listing
• Action on habitat
• Reduce conflict and human caused mortalities
• Science based recovery team be reinstated

Budget dedicated for recovery

Problem: There is no funding dedicated for grizzly bear recovery in Alberta’s provincial budget.
 

Solution: Include budget for grizzly bear recovery as a line item in Alberta’s provincial budget.
 

Supporting Facts:

• The current recovery plan asks for $2.8 million over three years to be spent on recovery actions
• Only $1.4 million is allocated to its species at risk program in Budget 2009
• Currently, Alberta has zero dollars dedicated for recovery and only $925 000 allocated to grizzly bear management
• Without a dedicated budget, what guarantees the recovery program will receive the staffing or funding required to be successful
• The government is currently putting tens of millions of dollars in branding Alberta to green wash their image and market Alberta as a tourism destination
• What other Alberta icon represents freedom and spirit better than the grizzly bear?

Endangered species listing
 

Problem: Alberta’s grizzly is a Threatened species but is not legally protected under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.
 

Solution: Immediately list the grizzly bear as Threatened under the Wildlife Act; use the promised upcoming status review to determine if an Endangered listing is now warranted.
 

Supporting Facts:

• In 2002 Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee recommended that the grizzly bear be listed as a Threatened species under the Alberta Wildlife Act
• To date the government has refused to accept this recommendation
• According to Alberta’s Strategy for the Management of Species at Risk, “the ultimate goal of formally designating a species as Threatened or Endangered is to facilitate management and recovery efforts necessary to restore viable populations”
• It is government policy to maintain viable levels of wildlife
• Listing would permanently ban hunting until the species was recovered
• The Minister has promised to order a status review this year but this will only trigger the same process that resulted in the initial recommendation (2002) to list the grizzly as Threatened. Meanwhile the grizzly remains unprotected and certain hunting groups are lobbying to re-open the hunt next spring

Action on habitat
 

Problem: Habitat loss is one the primary causes of declining grizzly bear numbers.
 

Solution: More lands in parks and protected areas. Road (and other open route) densities must be reduced and maintained below thresholds tolerable for grizzly bears.
 

Supporting Facts:

• 89% of known grizzly bear mortalities occur within 500m of a road
• The recovery plan clearly outlines the open route thresholds grizzly bears can tolerate:
• 0.6km/km2 in prime habitat
• 1.2km/km2 in all remaining habitat
• Currently the government is only looking at roads on which a 4x4 truck can access. This will not give an accurate representation of human access into prime grizzly bear habitat
• Candidate areas for protection have already been identified
• Outside of National Parks, the majority of protected areas are too small or lack the connectivity to other protected areas to offer any significant refuge

Reduce conflict and human caused mortality

Problem: High rates of human caused mortality severally impact the grizzly bear’s ability to recover. Improperly stored attractants are a major source of conflict.
 

Solution: The provincial government must take a lead role in conflict prevention programs and fully staff and fund programs like BearSmart. Reducing road densities and therefore limiting human access into prime grizzly habitat could have a dramatic effect on reducing the number of human caused mortalities.
 

Supporting Facts:

• Over 90% of known grizzly bear mortality in Alberta are caused by humans
• 30-50% of grizzly mortality goes unreported
• Bear relocation is not an appropriate solution to conflict because bears suffer a 30% increase in mortality following relocation
• Problem bears are not the problem. They are a symptom of a problem that starts with us
• Hunting is not the cause of declining bear numbers but it is a high source of mortality and one that can easily be controlled. Hunting should remain banned until the species has recovered. Listing the grizzly as Threatened or Endangered would accomplish this
• Programs such as BearSmart are left largely up to municipal governments and citizen volunteers to take the lead. It is important that municipalities continue to be engaged but managing wildlife is the provincial government’s responsibility and they must take the leading role

Science based recovery team should be reinstated
 

Problem: The Alberta government disbanded the Grizzly Bear Recovery Team. The Recovery Team is an essential component to implementing the Recovery Plan.
 

Solution: Immediately reinstate the Recovery Team.
 

Supporting Facts:

• Alberta’s Grizzly Bear Recovery Team was disbanded in the summer of 2008, only three months after the recovery plan was accepted as final and released to the public.
• According to the Recovery Plan, the Recovery Team was to:
• Guide the implementation of the Plan and facilitate and encourage the involvement of appropriate and interested parties
• They were responsible for updating the Plan, and evaluating and reporting on the progress of recovery actions
• They were also considering developing a rating system to help determine whether actions were being implemented and objectives were being met.
• The life-span of the plan is five years during which time the Team was to meet at least annually to review and update the Plan as required
• The Recovery Team had an instrumental role to play in recovery. Who is filling this role?
• The government has developed a Research Advisory Committee. This committee looks at research gaps and does not substitute the need for a Recovery Team

3) Ask your MLA to support recovery
 

Stress the importance of strong political leadership for a successful recovery program. Ask your MLA to fully support recovering grizzly bear populations in Alberta to viable and self-sustaining levels.
 

They can demonstrate this support by:

• Sending you a letter stating their support for recovery
• Sending a letter to:
• Alberta Premier
• Minister of Sustainable Resource Development – responsible for wildlife management and recovery.
• President of the Treasury Board – responsible for making decision about Alberta’s provincial budget

Follow up with your MLA by email. Restate the points you made during your meeting. Again ask for your MLA’s support for grizzly bear recovery in writing.
 

Organizing a group meeting with your MLA
 

Group meetings are an excellent demonstration of public support, they may be easier to arrange with your MLA and they provide a comfortable setting for those participating in the meeting.
 

Action Grizzly Bear (AGB) is looking for volunteers to help coordinate group meeting with their local MLA. It may be easier for a volunteer to coordinate these meetings because they likely have friends and neighbors, in their riding, who likely share similar concerns. This is also very valuable to build AGB’s support base.
 

To help, we will initially contact other AGB members from your riding. If they are interested in participating, we can pass their contact info onto you. We would also be happy to meet with the group beforehand to discuss any details.

***IMPORTANT***

Always send a copy of any correspondence with other government officials, to your local MLA.
 

To help us track campaign progress please let us know if you have contacted your MLA.