Buying bear spray in Manitoba comes with extra steps, but advocates say it's not enough to curb misuse
CBC visited 8 stores with a variety of practices for buyers, including photo ID, signed agreements
You likely won't — and shouldn't — see bear spray on a store shelf in Manitoba, but you can still buy it provided you share some personal information, show identification at some businesses and sign an agreement saying you understand it's meant for repelling aggressive bears and not for use against humans.
But one community advocate who helped push for tighter rules in the province 14 years ago feels the regulations weren't — and still aren't — strong enough to prevent bear spray from being used as a weapon.
"This is a serious, serious issue because bear spray is built to handle a 500-pound bear," said Sel Burrows, coordinator of Point Powerline, an inner-city crime prevention and community development group.
"When it sprays in a person's face it's really, really harmful."
CBC visited eight Winnipeg stores Wednesday to find out how accessible bear spray is following a series of unprovoked attacks in West Broadway and Downtown on Sunday in a matter of hours.
At least three people were attacked with a product meant only to be used as a last resort in a close encounter with a bear. Police believe the attacks were related and are looking for two male suspects, but no arrests had been announced as of Wednesday night. It isn't known how the bear spray used was acquired.
Buying bear spray
Three of the stores CBC visited had bear spray in stock.
At the first store, an employee of the big box retailer said the product is kept in their warehouse. CBC was then approached by a loss prevention officer who asked for two pieces of photo ID and an explanation of how the bear spray would be used.
The store later accepted a driver's licence and health card as two forms of identification as the bear spray was purchased with a credit card. Buyers also had to give their name, address and phone number, and sign a declaration form with the product serial number and the buyer's personal information.
The store said the information would be shared with the province because the information can be tracked if something bad happens.
At a second store specializing in outdoor merchandise CBC wasn't required to show photo ID but the buyer had to fill out a form with name, address and phone number. The store also asks buyers to read a document about bear spray and said the product should be taken to a police station to be disposed of if no longer needed.
A store employee said the RCMP tracks the information it gets from buyers, but the RCMP told CBC it does not track the sale of bear spray.
"We are aware that there is a report that is commonly filled out by sellers. However, we are not familiar with what the purpose would be or who receives/tracks that information," wrote Sgt. Paul Manaigre in an email to CBC.
A third store, also specializing in outdoor merchandise, said they had bear spray in stock and would have to get it from a back room. Buyers would also be required to fill out paperwork before purchasing the product.
The other five stores CBC visited do not carry the product. One of the stores was MEC in downtown Winnipeg, which confirmed to CBC the product is not sold there due to concerns it'll be misused.
Rick Shone, owner of Wilderness Supply, told CBC in an interview on Tuesday they only sell bear spray to people who show photo identification and fill out paperwork with their name and address.
"The product is not just readily available for people to walk in and purchase off the shelves," Shone said.
Bear spray rules
According to a document on the province's website titled Regulation of Sales of Pepper Spray in Manitoba, Manitoba Agriculture is responsible for regulating the sale of bear spray because it's classified as a pesticide.
The document stated retailers must be licensed to sell it, and they're not allowed to display bear spray in areas accessible to customers. Anyone who wants to buy it must ask for bear spray. Retailers must also keep a record of sales and purchaser declaration forms.
There is no age restriction for people who want to buy bear spray, and the forms signed by purchasers don't require people to show photo identification. However, the province's policy encourages stores to ask for it.
Some stores have implemented their own policies asking people to provide identification.
'Far too easy to acquire': police chief
Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said on Tuesday officers are encountering bear spray enough to warrant a conversation in the community about how it's sold.
"Anyone can go into an outfitters store and buy bear spray," Smyth said. "It is bear spray, right, it's meant as bear repellent but we are seeing more and more examples of it where it's being used in a way it's not intended to be used."
"Right now it's just far too easy to acquire bear spray ... we're encountering people that are concealing it on their person or in backpacks here in the city. Not a lot of bears in the city so we know it's being used inappropriately."
Mitch Bourbonniere, a community activist and outreach worker who works with young people in central Winnipeg, said asking people for identification and to give their address doesn't stop bear spray from being sold on the street.
"That doesn't stop what they call straw purchases where people who can buy it, go in, legally buy it and then there's a black market, there's an economy for it — they can just sell it on the street," Bourbonniere said.
Kelvin Goertzen, Manitoba's Justice Minister, said he wants more information from provincial officials on where bear spray being used illegally is coming from, but Winnipeg police and RCMP told CBC they don't trace the serial number of bear spray canisters seized by officers.
Store under investigation: province
A spokesperson for Derek Johnson, Manitoba's Agriculture Minister, said in a emailed statement late Wednesday stores that fail to comply with the regulations could face a licence suspension, fine, or both.
"No stores in Manitoba have lost their licences over the past three years for selling bear spray, though the province is currently investigating one store over a possible violation," the spokesperson said.
"If someone is selling bear spray without a licence, Manitoba Agriculture encourages people to contact the department with this information for further investigation."
Manitoba Agriculture said unless police inform them a dealer's product has been involved, they would have no way of knowing.
Burrows wants bear spray sales banned in urban areas, but isn't convinced that'll happen. At the very least, he said everyone buying bear spray should be required to provide photo identification which should be sent to the province so the police can track who's buying bear spray used in crimes.
"If they don't have photo ID and don't have an address, then don't sell it to them."
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