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Property owner fined after unsecured dumpster contributed to bear deaths

Town of Canmore issued $250 fine after black bears that were feeding in a downtown dumpster over a period of several nights were eventually euthanized.
20221003 Bears 2
Fish and Wildlife officers were on scene in south Canmore on Oct. 3 to capture a mamma bear and her two cubs. RMO FILE PHOTO

CANMORE – A $250 fine has been issued to a downtown property owner after black bears that were feeding in a downtown dumpster were eventually killed.

Town of Canmore officials says a ticket was given to a commercial premises on Main Street – numbered company 1004856 Alberta Ltd. – under the recyclables and waste bylaw for failing to maintain the bin in an animal-proof manner.

“There are several tenants who use the bin, so the property owner was deemed ultimately responsible,” said Caitlin Miller, the Town of Canmore’s manager of protective services.

“After reviewing the observations made by the RCMP member who attended, the Community Standards bylaw was not applicable in this case as no garbage was observed in the garbage bin.”

Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers say a mamma black bear and her two cubs were euthanized on Oct. 3 following reports they were feeding in a downtown dumpster over a period of several nights, and sleeping in nearby residential backyards.

Two weeks earlier, the two cubs and one other sibling were relocated with their mother to an area west of Caroline on Sept. 17, after they bolted into a downtown restaurant and devoured bags of brown sugar. Fish and Wildlife deemed the restaurant did nothing wrong.

The third young-of-the-year cub is believed to have died somewhere along the arduous 200-kilometre journey back to Canmore.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers at the time said the bears showed no fear of people and were no longer eating natural vegetation after getting into a dumpster in the back alley off Main Street.

“These bears have been euthanized because of the pretty serious habituated behaviour and the fact that they came back in two weeks,” said Matthew Visentin, a Fish and Wildlife officer with the Cochrane-Canmore district at the time.

“It is unfortunate that they were able to actually access dumpsters in the townsite of Canmore because I know Canmore is one of the forefront communities for being bear-smart, so it was quite surprising to see that there was pretty blatant access to garbage.”

Under Section 6.3 of Canmore’s recyclables and waste bylaw, every owner of a commercial premises shall maintain any animal-proof container or animal-proof enclosure located on that premises in such a manner that it remains animal-proof, serviceable and sanitary.

The ticket from the Town of Canmore against the property owner was filed in Canmore provincial court last Thursday (Nov. 3). No court appearance is necessary if the $250 fine is paid.

Since compliance is the goal, Miller said the Town of Canmore also asked the property owner if they would be willing to meet with the municipality’s solid waste services supervisor on site to review all the bins at their properties.

“This will help ensure that they are in compliance with both the recyclables and waste and the community standards bylaws,” said Miller.

“The property owner agreed and their contact information has been passed along to the solid waste services department to set up the meeting.”

Miller said compliance with the Town’s bylaws is the ultimate goal for the municipal enforcement department.

She said the department is working very closely with the solid waste services department to do an inspection program to identify deficiencies in commercial bins.

“These inspections will take place over the fall and winter months and businesses will be contacted to set up a specific time for the inspection to occur,” she said.

“This joint program between the municipal enforcement and solid waste services team hopes to reduce the amount of non-compliance observed in commercial waste bins throughout Canmore.”

A corporate registry search shows the director and sole shareholder of the numbered company is Susan Schoneck of Brooks, Alberta. The Outlook was unable to reach her by press time.

The tax roll shows the numbered company owns property at 622 and 626 Main Street. The buildings are home to three restaurants and one clothing store.

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