Some license issuers in rural
Saskatchewan are concerned with the province’s new method of attaining an
angling license.
For over 30 years, fishers have been able
to get a license through any of Saskatchewan’s 600 license issuers. In rural
parts of the province, an issuing office is often a local store or gas station.
Now, that process will be done online
or by phoning a call centre. Retailers can continue to issue licenses, but will
have to have a computer with internet access along with a colour printer.
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Greg Okolita runs a small hardware
store in Fort Qu’Appelle. He’s been issuing licenses for over thirty years. But
with the new change, he’s concerned doesn’t have the staff or the resources to
switch over.
“We just wouldn’t do it,” he said. “Especially
in the summer months, it gets very busy, and we just don’t have the time to do
it.”
The province is hoping that retailers
will be able to adapt to the changes. But even if they don’t, people can still
get their licenses from their home computers.
“It’s an online based system and you need computer access, so
we’re offering to all of our 600 issuers the opportunity to stay in and we hope
that they do, but really the connectivity is a computer and access to the
internet and a regular printer,” said Chuck Lees from the Ministry of
Environment.
Fisher Jarvis Dueck is concerned that if the number of license issuers
in the province decreases, some people might not have an easy way to get them.
“Sometimes you’re wanting to go at the
last minute, and you’re in a rush and you want to get your license, so it kind
of makes it inconvenient,” he said. “And I’m sure there might be more people
then going out without a license.”
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