Sudbury committee seeks long-term plan to address bears

Sudbury's bear committee hopes to implement a long-term plan to address the city's black bear problem.

The group comprised of 10officials from the city, police and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry met for the first time last Friday. Even the city's garbage manager was involved in the discussions.

Mike Commito, a northern policy analyst who is also part of the committee, said the group is committed to developing a strategy.

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"There was a lot of good stuff that came out of that meeting," he said, noting a homegrown solution is definitely possible.

"Hopefully, this is the start of something that will help ensure that Sudbury is bearwise in the future and that we don't have the type of incidences that we've had this summer."

Commito said the committee will meet again in two weeks to discuss the necessary framework needed to implementa new policy.

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"To me, this seems like this is the first time that these three [agencies]have really sat down at the table to work on a solution," he said, adding there's no quick or easy solution to the issue.