Tank: A year later, Sask. solution for bear spray failing

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Two separate fatal bear attacks within days of each other in May of 1983 sparked concern, even though they were the first such known deaths in the province’s history.

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One of the bears was later killed when it attacked two Saskatoon men in Nipawin Provincial Park. Former Saskatoon police officer Larry Reimer stabbed the creature to death with a long-bladed filleting knife, according to a StarPhoenix story on May 31, 1983.

Nearly 40 years later, in August of 2020, 44-year-old wife and mother Stephanie Blais was killed by a black bear near her family’s cabin north of Buffalo Narrows.

Bears rarely attack people in Saskatchewan — or worldwide — and attacks seldom result in deaths.

Conversely, incidents involving bear spray, which is ostensibly used to fend off the beasts, have proliferated and pose a very serious threat to public safety.

And, one year after the province introduced new rules to address the problem, it appears to be getting worse.

According to Saskatoon police, the number of incidents where bear spray was the most serious weapon present during a violent crime more than doubled from 180 in 2022 to 364 in 2023.

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A Saskatoon board of police commissioners meeting In February heard bear spray encounters with police had increased slightly to 367 last year, slightly more than one incident every day.

During the first two months of this year, Saskatoon police recorded 74 such incidents, up from 29 over the same period in 2024. That puts Saskatoon on pace for 444 bear spray incidents this year. These numbers do not include encounters where a more serious weapon was present.

In March of last year, former justice minister Bronwyn Eyre promised improved public safety when she introduced new rules to restrict the possession of “capsaicin-containing wildlife control products” or bear spray in public urban spaces. The regulations include potential fines of $100,000.

The Ministry of Justice says 55 charges were laid under the new rules as of the end of March, including 28 in Regina and 15 in Saskatoon. The ministry is unable to share information about fines or sentencing for those convicted under the rules, spokesman Noel Busse said in an email.

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But the 15 charges laid in Saskatoon, for example, represent just four per cent of the bear spray incidents cited by police.

And Saskatoon’s experience appears to reflect what’s happening in the rest of the province.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, said in an emailed statement that “many communities continue to see an increase in criminal incidents where bear spray is used.”   

Blackmore said the association supports “additional measures,” including “controlling the point of sale.”

Restricting sales of bear spray seems like a logical approach, given that the threat posed by bears ranks as extremely low, particularly when compared to the danger now posed by a substance intended to protect against the ornery omnivores.

But Saskatoon police could not provide any information about the origin of the bear spray used in those hundreds of incidents. So it could be purchased locally or ordered online.

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Yet for all practical purposes bear spray is identical to pepper spray, which is a prohibited weapon in Canada.

Last summer, Edmonton city council banned the sale of bear spray to minors and introduced rules that require businesses to track sales transactions and include fines for outlets that violate the bylaw.

Former Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cary Tarasoff suggested Saskatoon impose similar measures in December.

On Monday, Saskatoon city hall received a proposal on bear spray from police Chief Cam McBride, but the specifics remain a mystery. A report is expected in June, a council committee heard this week.

Police spokeswoman Kelsie Fraser said in an email that McBride “has indicated curbing (bear spray’s) illegal use is a primary policing challenge he hopes to address this year.”

Fraser added police are working with “multiple levels of government” on the issue.

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Saskatoon and other communities beset by bear spray can only hope city hall can succeed where the province has so badly failed.

Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

@thinktanksk.bsky.social

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