Ford's caucus was split over dog hunting park expansion

A decision over whether to expand an obscure dog sport in Ontario sparked division within Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative caucus that saw the premier agree to cancel a new licensing regime before later resurrecting it, The Canadian Press has learned.

At trial and train areas, hunters can unleash dogs inside massive, fenced-in areas to hunt down prey such as coyotes, foxes and rabbits. The provincial government insists they are safe for both dogs and wildlife.

In the spring of last year, after a prolonged lobbying campaign from some train and trial hunters, the province released a proposal through the Environmental Registry that would allow for a one-time, 90-day licence application period and allow licences to be transferred to new owners. The changes were part of an omnibus red tape bill that became law in June 2023.

The dog sport had been withering for decades. In 1997, then-premier Mike Harris's Progressive Conservative government began phasing out the practice by ceasing the issuance of licences needed to operate dog train and trial areas in the province. It also made it illegal to sell or transfer those licences.

At the time, there were upwards of 60 such areas across Ontario. That number has dwindled to 24. They are all on private property and must be completely enclosed. 

The training component sees hunting dogs let loose in these areas, which are often hundreds of hectares in size but fenced in around the perimeter. The dogs learn to hunt animals like coyotes, which are caught in the wild and re-homed to these areas.

The trial portion involves competitions with judges who score the dogs on their hunting skills. Points are awarded and champions crowned.

After The Canadian Press published news of the unannounced expansion plans last year, two former conservation officers spoke out about the pens based on their experience investigating them in the years after the Harris government tightened the rules.

Rick Maw and Wayne Lintack said the dog sport is cruel to the captive prey and well-meaning regulations are impossible to enforce. 

The two said the industry has long been rife with problems, including the illegal catching and warehousing of coyotes that are then fenced in as prey for the dogs. They also uncovered a coyote trafficking ring.

On April 2, 2006, conservation officers fanned out across southern and central Ontario for a series of raids. They seized nearly two dozen live coyotes and laid hundreds of charges. The criminal case eventually fell apart because it took too long to get to trial, but the province shut down a train-and-trial area where coyotes had been found packed in a barn.

Maw and Lintack said legislation that tries to regulate the practice is largely unenforceable, despite its good intentions to keep animals safe. Their initial audits of the place that was ultimately shut down passed with flying colours, they said, recounting that it took going undercover to discover what was really happening.

As last year's omnibus legislation was being debated, the two implored the government to reconsider the expansion. The committee studying the sport's expansion was deluged with hundreds of other complaints from the public, though the bill ultimately passed.

Six Progressive Conservatives, including two cabinet members, spoke to The Canadian Press about the issue. They agreed to share details under condition of anonymity in order to frankly discuss the government's internal machinations about the sport without risking repercussions.

The sources said news of the expansion, along with warnings by the former provincial conservation officers, caused division within party ranks. That division deepened in August 2023 when advocacy organization Animal Justice released a video after sending someone undercover at a train and trial area outside Kingston, Ont.

The video showed dogs wearing numbered pinnies running around a forest chasing a coyote, as hunters' discussions could be heard in the background. One man is heard boasting about how they run down coyotes all year.

Several Progressive Conservatives actively lobbied against the sport's expansion in light of animal cruelty concerns.

Backbenchers Christine Hogarth and Jess Dixon led the charge, the sources said. Neither of them responded to a request for comment. Both are animal lovers who believed the sport to be cruel, the sources said.

Their concerns were welcomed by many within the party. Both Ford and Natural Resources Minister Graydon Smith were convinced to let the expansion plans die by not putting the new licence application process into place, the sources said.

"It made sense to let this die on the vine because it had become a needless distraction for us," said one cabinet member.

"Frankly, most of us didn't even know this dog sport existed, and if Harris wanted it gone 25 years ago, many of us felt like that was reason enough to quietly reverse course."

In early September, word of the reversal made its way to the hunters, who launched another letter-writing campaign addressed to Ford and Smith.

Members of a Ontario Field Trialers, a Facebook group popular with hunters, were fuming.

"With the release of the video recorded by Animal Justice and the increased pressure by animal rights activists and looming election possibility, Premier Doug Ford has turned his back on the hound and hunting community and decided not to open up the application process, therefore defeating everything we wanted," one member wrote in early September. 

"I urge everyone to contact their local MP, (Natural Resources) Minister Graydon Smith and Doug Ford's office letting them know how this will hurt them in the upcoming election."

Ford has not ruled out calling an early election in 2025 before the fixed June 2026 election date. 

With that possibility dangling, the hunters' pressure led the premier to change course for a second time, the Progressive Conservative sources said.

"It was really about appeasing the hunters and shoring up support if we have an election," a second cabinet member said.

"Although most of us had never heard of this sport before, and, frankly, found the entire thing odd."

Ford's office declined to comment.

The facilities are safe for both dogs and wildlife, said Melissa Candelaria, a spokeswoman for the natural resources minister.

"These facilities prepare sporting dogs and their handlers for animal tracking and competitions while ensuring a safe environment that protects both dogs and wildlife from public areas, where this activity is not monitored or regulated," Candelaria said. 

"Contact between sporting dogs and wildlife is actively avoided and protections are in place to maintain safety for both."

The areas are routinely inspected, she said, and must adhere to strict standards set out in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act with stiff fines upwards of $100,000 and up to two years in jail for non-compliance. Operators must also comply with the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, she said.

"Conservation officers will not hesitate to enforce the law on facilities that do not meet the required standard of care for wildlife," she said.

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters said they were pleased to see the government move forward.

"The licensing process was developed with the support of experts and stakeholders like the OFAH and Canadian Kennel Club, allowing this tradition to continue responsibly while reinforcing the already rigorous standards for the safety and care of wildlife," said Mark Ryckman, a policy manager at the federation.

Last month, Animal Justice filed an application for review of the law's compliance with the province's Environmental Bill of Rights. The group alleges the "facilities are harmful to the environment, which includes Ontario's wildlife." 

The group isn't happy with Ford's about-face.

"We went undercover to determine the extent of the cruelty involved in caging and chasing these animals and we were shocked by what we saw, including coyotes running for their lives in enclosed areas," said Camille Labchuk, Animal Justice's executive director.

"We heard participants admitting that coyotes and other animals are regularly caught and killed by dogs and that the pens have to be restocked throughout the season because of all of these deaths. We quickly determined that this is a blood sport that has no place in a compassionate province like Ontario."

The province is currently accepting applications for train and trial licences. The application period is set to close at the end of December, with approvals likely coming in the new year. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024.