Canadian fishing guides and resort owners seek protections for local tourism industry

Fishing guides from the United States are being permitted to work in Canadian waters, causing local Canadian businesses to sound the alarm to government officials without much success.

“We want to know why people from the United States are given work permits to come work in Canada to exploit our fishery,” said Scott Hamilton, a fishing guide from the Rainy River District. “They don’t spend any money in Canada, yet they can come and take our fish.”

As a Canadian fishing guide, Hamilton feels it’s unfair that he misses out on revenue and competes with American guides in his own waters.

“We don’t have any new industry on the way soon,” he said. “And the only thing we have left is our lake and our water and our sovereignty on this side.”

If a local camp owner were to lose two guests a week for 26 weeks to an American resort, the amount of time they are open that season, the loss of revenue would be around $100,000, Hamilton said.

He added that there is also a loss of revenue to motels, restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores in the area.

Frustrated by the lack of acknowledgement from the government, Hamilton hopes to see policy changes happen soon.

“So the Canadian government has pretty much given the United States full rein on fishing guides and resorts using our resources,” he said. “And when we’ve questioned them about it, they become defensive. And they are always chasing a need to collect more information when we provided information for years and years and years. I’ve got every camp owner’s written letters and emails and texts and phone calls to our representative in government. And it gets ignored or the letters get lost. And every year we got to start all over.”

Hamilton said they have voiced concerns to the Canadian government for around 25 years without much success. He questions why the government keeps “handing out work permits like popcorn,” and hopes for more protection of Canadian resources and people.

“They’re putting the well being and the benefit to Americans ahead of Canadians,” Hamilton said. “Anybody who’s in a political office, one of their job and needs is to do things for the benefit of Canadians, but no, they seem to be more concerned about the American fishing guides.”

The allowance of American fishing guides in Canadian waters has held back local resorts’ potential growth and the tourism industry, says Chad Hughes, owner of Rainy Lake Outfitters.

Located on the east shores of Rainy Lake, approximately 20 miles east of Fort Frances and the US/Canadian Border crossing, Hughes’ resort offers hunting trips, fishing trips, and accommodations.

“Nobody’s investing more money in it because of what we’re competing against,” Hughes said.

To fish in Canadian waters, people should be required to come through the land port and stay at existing tourism operations in Canada, Hughes said regarding the changes he hopes to see.

“[Americans] are running business in Canada, but they’re not contributing to our tax base at all,” he said.

Elisa Nguyen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times