From Canadian Tire to Caribou

Posted on October 26, 2006

The actor, famous for his role on the long-running Canadian Tire commercials, Ted Simonett, is using his passion for photography to highlight the plight of Ontario's woodland caribou. His expedition to Ontario's boreal forest this summer enabled him to photograph the elusive caribou for CPAWS Wildlands League. Now, he's spreading the word with scientists and conservation groups, telling an untold story -- woodland caribou in Ontario may be on the road to extinction.

"Ted's amazing photographs are helping us reach out to tell this crucial story" said Janet Sumner, Executive Director, CPAWS Wildlands League. "Caribou are screaming at us to stop before we wipe out their habitat completely. Our logging and development practices throughout Ontario have put them on the brink of extinction and could be accelerating the impacts of climate change."

"Few people realise that we have these remarkable animals in Ontario let alone understand their plight" said Simonett. "I'm hoping that my photographs can help draw attention to the threats facing caribou in Ontario".

"Caribou are in the midst of a slow-motion crisis" said Dr. James Schaefer, Associate Professor at Trent University. In the late 1800s, woodland caribou could be found in northern Algonquin Park, but they have systematically vanished from a vast area, a broad swath of 400 kilometres northward into the Boreal Forest. In little more than a century, they have lost almost 50% of their range in Ontario.

"The best way to stop the extinction is by creating protected areas large enough to sustain healthy populations of caribou in Ontario's north and to keep logging out of caribou habitat" said Sumner.

"Caribou provide a rare opportunity - a chance to think big about our desires and intentions for the boreal forest." continued Dr. Schaefer. "Humans and caribou have a shared history, but they also will have a shared future. As caribou are threatened, so our communities are threatened." Ontario still has large areas of intact forest. The northern 40% of the province has not seen extensive logging or development.

Habitat loss throughout Ontario has caused the extinction of many species in the province. Sumner continued: "We need to stop any new development in the far north to give the situation sober second thought." The way to create protected areas in Ontario's far north is through proper land-use planning. Premier McGuinty promised to institute meaningful planning in Ontario's Northern Boreal Forest to protect ecological integrity. But so far, development is proceeding as if none of this matters.

Simonett will be hosting an evening with Susan Aglukark, Cathy Jones (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and scientists Jim Schaefer and Justina Ray in:

Caribou the untold story

Monday November 6, 2006 at 7:30pm
Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
27 Front St. East
Toronto

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For more information contact:
Evan Ferrari, CPAWS Wildlands League, (416)-971-9453 xt 43 or (416) 986-4147