A Churchill tourism operator was fined $802 after being found guilty of not following safety protocols during a September polar bear viewing expedition.
Conservation officers were conducting regular hunter compliance checks in the Churchill area on Sept. 28 when they saw a local tourism operator providing a polar bear walking tour to clients.
The group was observing a polar bear mother and her cub and the officers noticed the operator did not have anything to deter the bear if it were to approach and that they had let the members of the tour group spread out on foot, potentially exposing them to a bear attack.
The operator was charged with failing to comply with polar bear safety conditions on their resource tourism operators licence and found guilty in court Nov. 9, at which point the fine was imposed.
