So much more than cruise ships, festivals and the bridge
To the Expositor:
Recently on the Facebook page “Life on Manitoulin” it only took one comment from one auntie from Toronto for the admins to shut down commenting on a post with a photo of blackbear tracks (not a photo of a legally harvested, field dressed bear hanging) and some text including a young Island boy’s upcoming spring bear hunt.
Life on Manitoulin is a very straightforward definition. Many Islanders strongly agree that hunting, fishing and trapping and its history is as much or more Life on Manitoulin as cruise ships, island festivals/fairs, yachts, bicycle rallies, craft beer breweries, a swing bridge or fine dining establishments.
So, what will be next? Do we stop publicly mentioning our annual rifle season for whitetail deer in November that adds hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Island economy every year?
Do we never mention our yearly buck, salmon and carp derbies that are held each year for good causes?
No sir, I am simply tired of it.
Island folks have always been a welcoming people. Hard working decent people; proud of their history and heritage.
If people from the urban south wish “not” to embrace all our history and heritage, fine, but then they need to keep their mouths shut about it. If they don’t wish to comply with that then they simply need to stay down in The Big Smoke and leave us Islanders alone to live our lives as we choose and how we always have.
Thank you,
Greg Young
Wiikwemkoong
