(File photo courtesy of braindance via morgueFile)(File photo courtesy of braindance via morgueFile)
Sarnia

Pinery Provincial Park to close for deer harvest

The province will be closing Pinery Provincial Park later this month for a traditional Indigenous activity.

An Indigenous deer harvest will be held from November 26 to 30, and will begin a half-hour before sunrise and end at noon each day. The Grand Bend park will be closed to the public during the deer harvest.

The harvesters will use rifles and archery equipment to hunt the deer, and agreed-upon safety measures and harvesting techniques will also be followed. The local Indigenous community will also use all deer harvested from the park.

"Ontario respects Aboriginal and treaty rights, as recognized and affirmed under the Constitution Act, 1982, and is committed to meeting the province's constitutional and other obligations regarding Indigenous peoples," the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a press release.

The local Indigenous community will use all deer harvested from the park.

This is the fifth year that an Indigenous deer harvest will take place within Pinery Provincial Park.  Indigenous deer harvests have also previously been held in Rondeau, Clear Creek Forest and Short Hills provincial parks.

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