Our Day In Court Approaches....

[jgib01]

What must be remembered is judges are named by the AG's office whose thoughts & direction reflect the political parties who control the office. The fine reflects the "party line" just like it has done for near 100 years in Alberta. While tears are shed over some cuts and Bulls, the irrigation sucks the fish outta rivers all over southern Alberta and nothing gets done. We are one screwed up place. Don

 

Bit of an oversimplification of the process, but probably easy to argue that there is at least a heaping measure of political influence at play in the appointments. Applications have to first go to the Judicial Council, who will approve (or not) sending the name to the Nominating Committee. (4 of the 6 members of the Council are ex officio, and 2 are appointed by the Minister. On the Nominating Committee, 3 are ex officio and the remaining 8 are appointed by the Minister.) The Minister can appoint only from those names forwarded from the Nominating Committee. I know of at least one appointment made in the South in recent years of a judge who had very strong ties to a different political party... so our current crop of judges aren't all past Conservative riding presidents, just some of them

[McLeod]

I am ok with the fine but they should have been banned for five years or 100 hours each of working om stream and river projects with Trout unlimited.

[sldrose]

Hey Jordan,

 

Great work on this.

 

On a side note, and for anyone interested, the guys are apparently from Bhutan which is a devout Buddhist country and culturally they should've been practicing catch and release!

 

 

There is a great 90's Australian travel/fishing documentary called "A River Somewhere" where the hosts had to get special permission

to fish in Bhutan

 

Check it out on youtube A River Somewhere 2x01 Bhutan

(jump to 14min)

 

cheers

[Jayhad]

i read the post wrong, edited

[aaa]

Read the 3rd paragraph.....they don't conk, bonk and boil in the Bhutan.....ever

 

http://www.flyfishhimalayas.com/history-of-bhutan/

 

They knew what they were doing was wrong....

[jgib01]

Read the 3rd paragraph.....they don't conk, bonk and boil in the Bhutan.....ever

 

http://www.flyfishhimalayas.com/history-of-bhutan/

 

They knew what they were doing was wrong....

 

I believe most of the Bhutanese refugees in Lethbridge came via the Nepal refugee camps. I understand that, for the most part they were ejected from Bhutan because of their historic Nepalese roots. There is quite a religious diversity among the group here; I was at a potluck a number of years ago, and we had to label everything... some were not allowed beef (Hindu), some not allowed pork (Muslim? Buddhist?) and some were strict vegetarian (likely Buddhist again). And while subsistence fishing may be illegal in Bhutan, we know that isn't the case/culture here. I'd say, like it or not, c&r is the exception outside the fly fishing community. I'm amazed how many people that I speak to about my new habit are surprised to hear that I retain none of the trout that I catch (the Pacific salmon I've caught haven't fared so lucky, and a legal-sized walleye would probably be in the same proverbial boat).

 

That all said, religion and Bhutanese laws aside, I would agree with your previous comment... it is pretty inconceivable to think that none of the six knew that what they were doing was illegal here. And if any of them didn't, they know now... and I'd bet that so does the Bhutanese community.

[jpinkster]

I believe most of the Bhutanese refugees in Lethbridge came via the Nepal refugee camps. I understand that, for the most part they were ejected from Bhutan because of their historic Nepalese roots. There is quite a religious diversity among the group here; I was at a potluck a number of years ago, and we had to label everything... some were not allowed beef (Hindu), some not allowed pork (Muslim? Buddhist?) and some were strict vegetarian (likely Buddhist again). And while subsistence fishing may be illegal in Bhutan, we know that isn't the case/culture here. I'd say, like it or not, c&r is the exception outside the fly fishing community. I'm amazed how many people that I speak to about my new habit are surprised to hear that I retain none of the trout that I catch (the Pacific salmon I've caught haven't fared so lucky, and a legal-sized walleye would probably be in the same proverbial boat).

 

That all said, religion and Bhutanese laws aside, I would agree with your previous comment... it is pretty inconceivable to think that none of the six knew that what they were doing was illegal here. And if any of them didn't, they know now... and I'd bet that so does the Bhutanese community.

Interesting context, thanks for sharing that.

 

I have similar experiences with my non-fishing friends when I tell them that I don't keep anything. Most of them ask, "well what's the point then?". Different strokes for different folks I suppose!