Toronto ends its days-old ban on waterfront fishing

Toronto’s controversial mayor, Rob Ford, hasn’t done a whole lot to impress me since taking office (quite the contrary, actually), but I have to tip my fishing hat to him this morning.

Yesterday, no doubt to placate Toronto’s seething angling community, Ford and his executive committee reversed a days-old ban on fishing along the city’s Lake Ontario shoreline. That’s right: the “No Fishing” signs that went up last Friday are now coming down. (Click here for my blog posting from yesterday, with complete details on the ill-conceived ban.)

And not only did Ford and his committee issue an order for the signs to come down, they also approved a “Fishing Summit” to bring together anglers and the various waterfront stakeholders to determine where, if anywhere, angling should not be permitted.

Man, it’s refreshing to see cool heads prevail. Congrats to all the Toronto anglers who signed petitions and lobbied their municipal politicians to have this ban reversed. And thank you to Mayor Ford and Councillor Paula Fletcher, in particular, for getting the job done so swiftly.

Interestingly, there’s been scant mainstream media attention (so far) to the removal of the “No Fishing” signs, but the Toronto Sun did have this report.