Whereas The Municipal Act granted the powers to municipalities to prohibit weapons for the purpose of public safety by enacting a Discharge of Firearms By-Law. 

And whereas The City of Kenora did responsibly, reasonably and historically prohibit the discharge of weapons including bows within City limits for the purpose of public safety.

And whereas in 2011 the Council for the City of Kenora amended the Discharge of Firearms by-law for the "purpose of deer management" and not  for the "purpose of public safety".

And whereas nothing changed before said amendment which made the discharge of bows within the City limits safe.

And whereas the killing of nuisance deer is illegal by way of The Fish and Wildlife Act. 

And whereas the Municipal Act 14. (1) A by-law is without effect to the extent of any conflict with,

(a) a provincial or federal Act or a regulation made under such an Act; or

(2) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), there is a conflict between a by-law of a municipality and an Act, regulation or instrument described in that subsection if the by-law frustrates the purpose of the Act, regulation or instrument. 2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 10.

And whereas The Criminal Code provides that

80. (2) For the purposes of this section, every one commits a common nuisance who does an unlawful act or fails to discharge a legal duty and thereby

(a) endangers the lives, safety, health, property or comfort of the public; or

(b) obstructs the public in the exercise or enjoyment of any right that is common to all the subjects of Her Majesty in Canada.

And whereas The Charter of Rights and Freedoms states firearms owners are tightly regulated and the regulation falls under the "criminal law" power granted exclusively to the Federal government with an exception of municipal firearm discharge by-laws and that, Section 7 of the Charter states, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice".

And whereas all hunters are protected a little from the dangers they present to each other while discharging weapons by legally having to wear blaze orange over a sizable portion of their bodies. Only hunters are protected by legislation while the non-hunting public is not.

And whereas the City council has authorized the discharge of bows on private properties scattered throughout the city abutting residences and highways and child care institutions, and has continued to make the size of the eligible property smaller.

And whereas there has been bow hunting behind Valleyview Elementary School.

And whereas it  the Council of the City of Kenora  amended the map by removing an area behind Valleyview school citing bow hunting there to be dangerous.

And whereas if it is dangerous there it must be dangerous everywhere.

And whereas a bow can travel 600 feet  which is more than the distance from one side to the other side of a perfectly square 5 acre lot, but most of the eligible properties are not square making the distance the arrow travels to leave the boundaries  subject to shape and not size of the property.

And whereas I happened across a bow hunter who appeared to be committing infractions which interfered with public comfort who was entirely unidentifiable and hostile walking with a loaded weapon in an area people walk their dogs and ride bikes, who was also hunting on city property .

And whereas as MNR representative stated this hunter was a "person of interest" and to stay clear of him, and that this person would hunt every day.

And whereas we ran into each other again.

And whereas the Province enacts hunting legislation which has penalties for offences.

And whereas the Council of the City of Kenora has made it's own hunting regulations not in keeping with The Fish and Wildlife Act which have no penalties for offences.

And whereas the killing of deer is not monitored by the City.

And whereas the MNR has no authority to enforce a by-law. 

And whereas a by-law enforcement officer has no protection when confronting an armed offender.

We, the undersigned petition the Council of the City of Kenora to remove the amendment they made to the Discharge of Firearms for the purposes of deer management and once again, prohibit the discharge of firearms within city limits for the purpose of public safety.