This is the story of just one students' club in British Columbia, with a trapping component, that could use a helping hand. But hopefully it will also open eyes across Canada. You probably live far from BC, but maybe there's a trapping club nearby that faces similar problems. Can you help? Or maybe you're struggling to start your own trapping club, and can learn from this young man's experiences.

Meet Cole Mark, a 25-year-old born in BC's capital, Victoria, and a student at the University of Victoria, or "UVic" to those in the know.

By anyone's definition, Cole is an outdoorsman. When he is not studying forest biology or working for the BC Wildfire Service, he is hunting, rock climbing, backcountry skiing, fishing, scuba diving, spearfishing, shooting (guns and bows), and foraging. He also has "strong passions" for wildlife management and sourcing his own food.

It was in character, then, that in 2023 he started the UVic Freediving and Spearfishing Club, and followed this up in 2024 with the UVic Fish and Game Club – the one we're going to talk about today.

As the name suggests, the UVic Fish and Game Club dabbles in a wide range of activities, both hands-on and involving educational presentations and licensing courses. One of the most successful components has been shooting, with nearly 50 members completing their firearm safety training in the club's first semester alone.

The trapping component, however, is proving more challenging to get off the ground – something we'll circle back to.

Making of an Outdoorsman

Truth About Fur: In your own words, Victoria "offers limited exposure" to outdoor activities, while your parents are a teacher and a lawyer. How, then, did you become an outdoorsman?

Cole Mark: My love of nature was largely instilled in me by my late grandfather and my uncle. My grandfather and I spent days fishing, and he shared stories about hunting and fishing. My uncle, a commercial diving captain, often took me fishing and crabbing, further shaping my passion for the ocean and outdoors.

Ironically, as for Victoria, the capital of BC, its limited offering of exposure is largely because of considerable social pressure to oust these foundational pieces of Canadian tradition and heritage. This makes it awfully intimidating for people to take interest in, never mind trying to be a part of, outdoor recreation.

As many of you know, and starting well before I was born, there was a slow clawing at everything trapping, hunting, fishing and shooting. However, today it's been turned into more of a cutting away. As a young man who cares deeply about his country, neighbour, and having a family of his own one day; I quickly realized that I needed to be the change I wanted to see. I knew it wasn’t going to easy. The idea alone of starting a fish and game club that promotes the education of firearms and trapping at the University of Victoria was completely nuts. And it has been a wild ride for me to say the least. But, I knew I needed to make a difference where I could. I understand how intimidating these pursuits can seem to people with no background in them, and this is what drives me to make outdoor education more accessible. I want others to discover and appreciate this important part of Canadian tradition, heritage and culture.

TAF: Starting the Freediving and Spearfishing Club and then the Fish and Game Club was a logical step for you, then?

CM: That's right. The mission of both clubs is to provide a space where students can develop practical skills, build a deeper connection with nature and food, and promote safety, ethics, and conservation in all activities with friends and without worrying about backlash. Both clubs have been incredibly rewarding to start and run, and they have taught me a lot about leadership, community building, and sharing my passion with others.

TAF: Could society do with more such clubs?

CM: I certainly believe so, especially at the university level. I keep my club entirely apolitical. My goal is to give anyone an experience and working knowledge so they can make informed opinions from choosing whether or not to buy a fishing rod at a local store, getting a firearms license (restricted or not), or casting a ballot.

Additionally, many of the outdoor recreational activities that fish-and-game clubs foster, including trapping, are being phased out in my generation. And as they disappear, we are also losing the heritage, values and most importantly the virtues they bring and inherently teach.

Our UVic club also just had our first hunting event approved! This event utilized an initiation hunting license where any student could get a license and hunt for the first time with a licensed student. It must be the first hunting trip a university club in BC, or maybe even in Canada, has done in decades.

TAF: You have no background in trapping, and yet your club offers this skill. How did this come about?

CM: I acquired my trapping license in 2021. I can thank Mr. Steven Rinella and a few whispers of stories about trapping here on the island for developing my interest. Ever since, it's been a defining part of my development as an outdoorsman and as a young academic. It has taught me lessons that my degree could not, from hands-on wildlife management and land stewardship to the practicalities of renewable resource management. It has taught me that there is a gap in understanding the vital role that trapping plays in sustainable wildlife management, land stewardship, and in renewable resources. It has instilled in me a profound respect for the delicate balance of ecosystems, the patience to observe and understand animal behaviour, and the discipline required to work ethically within nature’s cycles. And it has reinforced the values of responsibility, resilience, and humility, showing me that a true connection with the outdoors is not all from theory but also time spent in the bush.

These are the lessons I hope to pass on to my fellow club members.

Hurdles to Trapping

TAF: You say that two hurdles stand in the way of really getting trapping off the ground at your club: cost and limited opportunities to "get out".

CM: That's right. Overall, the club is doing well. We currently have around 130 members, and our numbers continue to grow as more students seek outdoor experiences and opportunities to learn. Of all the activities we offer, though, trapping presents unique challenges.

There's a decent amount of interest in trapping at UVic, but we need to provide more opportunities for club members to spend time on actual traplines, and we also need to provide a way for them to become licensed. Both face issues of accessibility and cost.

In BC, you can only trap on traplines or on private property. Traplines that were once hundreds of dollars, are now tens of thousands. BC only has around 1,800 licensed trappers, which is roughly a 40% decrease from the 1950’s. I fear what kind of future my own children will face. Will the lifestyle be reserved for a select few diehards and those willing to endure unnecessary scrutiny, criticism, and death threats? I sure hope not.

As for helping students obtain their trapping licenses, so far about 30 students have expressed interest in taking a course, but only one has done so. This was through the British Columbia Trappers Association. Courses cost around $800, are a two-hour drive from town, and only run once a year. So we've been working with the BCTA to offer a more accessible and affordable alternative for club members, but it's a work in progress.

TAF: So have you been able to offer members any opportunities at all to gain hands-on trapping experience?

CM: Thankfully, yes. A very generous local trapper and former instructor, Jerry Baker, agreed to host a workshop for just $30 per student! Unfortunately, he will be selling his line soon as he is unable to work it any longer due to age, so we're still looking for a long-term solution. I have had one trapper reach out to us about a line that's pretty close to UVic, however, they’re looking for ~$25,000 which is well more than I have.

My hope is to arrange a partnership or access agreement with a trapper or landowner here on Southern Vancouver Island. My vision is to secure a trapline that the club can use for education, mentorship, and hands-on learning. We have limited funding but I am more than happy to work on something that is mutually beneficial.

I also believe that having guaranteed access to a trapline could offer students unique research opportunities on local furbearing species, and provide new perspectives on how trapping can play a more active role in modern coservation efforts as a wildlife management tool.

Succession Plan

TAF: You'll be graduating from the University of Victoria soon. Do you have a succession plan to make sure the UVic Fish and Game Club continues once you've gone?

CM: I plan to continue my education in forest biology after graduating, with the goal of earning my Registered Professional Biologist (R.P. Bio) and Registered Professional Forester (RPF) accreditations. So I may not be leaving Victoria just yet. But as you say, I must ensure the club has been set up for long-term success, enabling it to thrive as a permanent part of student life at UVic.

To this end, we have a vice-president and an executive team to make sure our leadership succession is smooth and the club has capable hands to carry it forward.

I am also in talks with department heads (Program Coordinator and Dean of EPHE) to explore the possibility of making the club a funded program here at the university. This process is complex and takes time, but if successful, it will give the club access to stable funding and administrative support, which will go a long way toward ensuring its sustainability long beyond my own time here. It also sets a provincial precedent; in BC, there are no institutionally recognized Fish and Game or Shooting Clubs.

Meanwhile, we are gathering every bit of support we can, from organizations, sponsors, and individuals, because not only do we have very minimal funding but these also strengthen our application and demonstrate the value of what we are doing. I am proud to say that we have already received support from the BC Wildlife Federation, Safari Club International, Belisle Traps, the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's Outdoor Fund, and the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. If you’re interested in seeing more you can check our Instagram page or email us at [email protected].

TAF: We wish you every success, and who knows, maybe your future partner on Southern Vancouver Island – be it a landowner or trapline operator – is actually reading this interview! And as we said in the introduction, it's almost certain that similar initiatives exist across Canada that need a helping hand. Could that helping hand be yours?

Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada held a ceremonial opening of the Court, which featured the public debut of the Court’s new robes. In June, Chief Justice Richard Wagner went on record saying that new robes were coming that “better reflect Canadian identity”.

The new robes are black with red piping, while the traditional robes were red wool with white mink fur, which had replaced the ermine of the original robes from 1875. The connection between Canadian history and identity and fur is well-known to all Canadians – the  Hudson's Bay Company, voyageurs, Indigenous fur trappers, and so much more. Canada is also the birthplace of successful mink and fox farming.

SEE ALSO: A personal voyage to the origins of fox farming. Truth About Fur, 2015.

Every corner of our country has been affected in some way by the fur trade. St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, where steamships unloaded sealskins, and the Fur District of Montreal, where the sound of sewing machines once echoed through the streets, are just two examples that come to mind. Today, there are countless towns and villages across Western and Northern Canada that still bear the name “Fort” or “Factory” stemming from outposts of the North West Company or Hudson Bay Company.

Fur is not some kind of historical artifact. Today, there are innovative and exciting designers across Canada using it. Some are inspired to use fur because it is a biodegradable alternative to synthetic fibres that send microplastics into our rivers and oceans. Others are using fur as a way to reconnect to their Indigenous heritage, which was suppressed by government institutions, including the very Court Wagner sits on. Others wear it because it is warm, fashionable, and accessible.

The Supreme Court has added itself to a list of Canadian institutions that have chosen to wrap themselves in the adulation of foreign-funded animal activists instead of supporting Canada’s fur farmers, trappers and seal hunters who not only support our rural communities but, more often than not, are wholeheartedly supported by everyday Canadians in rural, coastal, northern, and yes, even urban communities.

Earlier this year, Fairmont, whose hotels were built along the Canadian Pacific rail line which transported furs to auction houses across the country and whose luxury hotels were filled for decades with customers wearing their finest furs, went fur-free. The Hudson's Bay Company, which once gathered furs from across the Canadian hinterland to send to markets in Europe, had announced a fur-free policy not long before their demise. When Canadians tune in to watch our greatest athletes enter the Olympic opening ceremonies in Milan next February, they will see other countries’ athletes wearing Canadian fur, but not Team Canada.

SEE ALSO: Sharon Firth wants fur back on Canada's Olympic uniform. Truth About Fur, 2019.

Chief Justice Wagner, on behalf of Canada’s thousands of trappers, seal hunters and fur farmers, as well as the many Canadians who believe in maintaining a connection to our shared history and the role of both the Supreme Court and the fur trade in it, I encourage you to reconsider and refashion your statement. If you are convinced we need to replace the Supreme Court’s traditional Santa Claus robes with something more fashion-forward, there are many designers across Canada who would be more than happy to help you create a design that truly celebrates Canadian identity and heritage – with natural and sustainable Canadian fur.

Doug Chiasson is Executive Director of the Fur Institute of Canada, and a Director-At-Large of the Canada Mink Breeders Association.

If you want a new way to stay updated on the latest developments in Canada's fur trade, look no further than a podcast now being brought to you by the Fur Institute of Canada (FIC) in cooperation with a strong advocate of the sustainable use of wildlife. There's no reading involved, and no swiping through social media on a tiny smartphone screen. Just click "play" and listen to a full hour of information courtesy of The Truth About Fur.

Launched in May 2024 and airing new episodes more or less monthly, The Truth About Fur podcast is a joint effort of the FIC and the Wild Origins Canada Foundation. The Foundation launched its first podcast, the award-winning Hunter Conservationist, seven years ago, since when this podcast has become more of a "channel" for a family of podcasts each looking at different angles of sustainable use as a wildlife conservation tool.

Hosting duties for The Truth About Fur are shared by two men from opposite coasts. Mark Hall, from British Columbia, is a third-generation trapper and Executive Director of Wild Origins Canada. Joining him very remotely is the FIC's Executive Director Doug Chiasson, from Nova Scotia. You can tune in to Mark and Doug on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch them on YouTube. All past episodes are archived in the Members section of the FIC website.

Funding Sources

Truth About Fur: Podcasts on the Hunter Conservationist channel are free to stream or download, including The Truth About Fur, but producing all this content surely costs money. How is it funded?

Mark Hall: Wild Origins Canada is a federally registered nonprofit corporation, so we rely on sponsors and donors to keep the lights on! This means hunters, trappers, anglers – anyone who agrees that sustainable use is an important tool in conserving wildlife.

We also draw support from our umbrella organization, the Origins Foundation, started in South Africa but now global. The Origins Foundation divides partners into two "clubs", both of which provide financial support. The Conservation Club groups top-tier brands of manufacturers, outfitters and so on, while the Supporters Club consists of individuals who provide a few bucks a month.

Doug Chiasson: And in line with this business model, we are currently seeking sponsors for The Truth About Fur podcast. Please download our latest presentation deck here, and email me at [email protected] if you can help.

Target Audience

TAF: What is the target audience of The Truth About Fur podcast?

DC: Podcasts are not revolutionary. They're a new spin on a traditional medium, the radio, so our target audience is just people who like listening to the radio. If there's a difference between the two, it's that podcast users have more control over what they listen to than when they rely on a radio dial. But the audience was always there.

Podcasts are also a way of expanding our offerings. For the last two decades, organizations like the FIC relied on traditional websites as their main public relations tool, but netizens today want to access content in a variety of ways. So we've had to adjust by adding new digital platforms, like this blog, social media channels, and now a podcast.

As for who actually listens, we don't analyze our audience like some content creators do for social media. But it's safe to assume they have time to spare (since each episode lasts over an hour), and their eyes are busy elsewhere. So good candidates would be people who do a lot of driving, or spend hours in the workshop. Or maybe they just want background noise while they do other things.

For us, the main issue is filling a need for a steady supply of reliable, up-to-date news on Canada's fur trade that folks can listen to, wherever and whenever they choose. Hopefully, The Truth About Fur podcast meets that need.

Larger Picture

TAF: How does The Truth About Fur podcast fit into the larger picture of the Hunter Conservationist channel?

MH: The Hunter Conservationist believes in the sustainable use of wildlife, and supports the ways of life of people who share this belief. So we were already covering trapping issues, since furbearers are just wildlife like the game birds and animals that hunters pursue.

The science that's needed to understand furbearers, protect their habitat, and so on, all applies generally in the field of conservation. And from a human perspective too, trappers and hunters have much in common. An entire way of life revolves around the sustainable use of furbearers – a holistic knowledge that trappers share with one another. The same goes for sealers and the sealing industry, who the FIC also represents.

When we started the Hunter Conservationist, there was no national voice that explored the larger picture of conservation and the sustainable use of wildlife across Canada. Then we expanded to include a whole bunch of different podcasts, but all guided by the same principles. For example, there's Around Canada, which covers national news stories, and a new podcast we're doing with the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society.

I saw the same need for the trapping community. There was no national podcast that was standing up for trappers' way of life, and the deep knowledge they have of furbearer ecology that is fundamental to the conservation of species that belong to all Canadians. So The Truth About Fur is part of this family of podcasts dedicated to the people whose way of life revolves around the sustainable use of wildlife. It's a logical fit.

TAF: Given that you are very much the man behind Hunter Conservationist, where do you stand personally?

MH: Both my grandfather and father were trappers, and I share their passion, so I understand this way of life. I also want to fight against the bad things that are said about trappers.

So my personal motivation is really strong. I dislike seeing lies in the mainstream media about trapping, and correcting them is a hill I'm willing to die on. I will stand up for every trapper and every hunter across this country who is deeply connected to the sustainable use of wildlife. I'll always be there, on all of our various platforms, standing up for great Canadians who love this way of life.

In 1997, the Fur Institute of Canada’s Aboriginal Communications Committee launched the Jim Bourque Award in honour of a man committed to the sustainable use of wildlife, animal welfare, development of Canada’s modern fur trade, and recognition of Indigenous People’s role in the conservation and management of wildlife. This year's award went to Patricia Dwyer, a Métis resident of northern Alberta and director of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Here is her story.

SEE ALSO: Fur Institute of Canada holds 2025 AGM in Edmonton. Truth About Fur.

***

The Wild Path: A Personal Journey

The first traces of my passion for wildlife etched themselves into my mind long before I could spell “conservation.”  As a child in northern Alberta, I would explore outdoors with my brother and my cousin. The skies held a fascination of large and small birds, some quiet voices and some joining each other in raucous laughter, while the fields and forest floors provided small mammals like squirrels, skunks, rabbits and porcupines. Occasionally a mink or an otter would be spotted down by the Burnt River. Deer and coyotes were plentiful.

I wanted to be a veterinarian working with wildlife. I never got there, but found other ways to fulfill my passion. I was the granddaughter of a Hudson’s Bay factor and an Indigenous woman who lived in a town of about 300 people and relied on the fruits of nature. After living up there for my early formative years it was no surprise to my parents that I would choose an occupation along that path.

Personal Growth: Lessons Beyond the Curriculum

While studying wildlife biology and management at the University of Guelph, two of my student colleagues, Richard Popko and Robert Stitt, introduced me to the Ontario Trappers Association at a conference in North Bay. I was smitten. There were at least 250 trappers, men and women from all over Canada to Texas. They were happy, friendly and welcoming people. And they accepted me without question.

Upon graduation I accepted a position from Neal Jotham and Diana Manthorpe, with the Federal Provincial Committee on Humane Trapping, the predecessor to the Fur Institute of Canada. I took a course in trapping from Lloyd Cook, the then president of the OTA. The work I did was to film animals going into traps which we wanted to prove humane. The traps were kill traps, and locked open. There was a trajectory which could be determined with the very little movement we provided and the animals’ movements. No traps were used to kill animals unless they were determined able to hit hard enough at a vulnerable spot. I would film at night and eventually in an indoor space with adequate cameras and lighting. I housed and cared for marten, mink, fisher and raccoon for research, as well as a lynx, and a fox.

SEE ALSO: Humane trapping research program leads the world. Truth About Fur.

My supervisor was Dr. Fred Gilbert, and I had two employees. Eventually the FIC trap development work moved to Vegreville. I had also moved to Alberta and was working for the Alberta Government as a fur biologist. I was still working with traps and trappers and had several trappers outfitted with new humane traps and new technicians to test over the winters. I also worked with government people from the other provinces who held similar positions to mine – such as Bob Carmichael (Manitoba), Mike O’Brien (Nova Scotia) and Pierre Canac-Marquis (Quebec).

Eventually I left to do a master’s under Dr. Frank Mallory on lynx cycles producing my thesis “Location and Characterization of Lynx Refugia of Ontario”, at Laurentian University in Sudbury, supported by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and my many friends and family. During that time, I collaborated with Jim Baker on a chapter in the trapping bible by Milan Novak, Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America.

Following that and before graduating, I attended University of Ottawa at the Law school. I graduated from my master’s and law degrees on the same May weekend in 1992. Upon graduation I worked for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in the trapping section, doing consultations with Aboriginal peoples on humane traps. Brian Roberts and Smokey Bruyere were my mentors and supervisors in this position.

I was soon asked to join the Canadian Wildlife Service, to do consultations and help facilitate the changes to the Migratory Birds Convention 1916. With the acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982 it was necessary to acknowledge and accept the rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada to hunt migratory birds during the closed season for subsistence purposes. I requested and was given permission to form a negotiation committee with Aboriginal peoples on the team. The Honourable James Bourque, who was the Deputy Minister of Environment in the Northwest Territories, worked with me along with Philip Awashish from the Crees of Quebec and Rosemary Kuptana, the then president of the Inuit Tapiirisat of Canada. I have always thought of this successful endeavour as one of the first Federal government actions of reconciliation to Indigenous peoples.

At CWS, I was Chief of Aboriginal Affairs and Transboundary Wildlife for 20+ years. Presently, I am on the Executive of the Canadian Wildlife Federation (NGO) and slated to become in two years the first woman, and first Indigenous president. 

The Power of Community and Collaboration

Conservation, I discovered, is not a solitary pursuit. Through workshops, conferences, and collaboration with other students and professionals, I became part of a network dedicated to wildlife conservation. We shared findings, debated best practices, and supported each other through successes and setbacks. One of my most formative experiences was working on co-management agreements in the new treaties with Indigenous peoples. The project required coordination between hunters and trappers, Indigenous communities, and government lawyers and biologists – a reminder that conservation is as much about people as it is about animals.

I learned to listen as much as to speak, absorbing traditional ecological knowledge and local stories that textbooks never capture. The wisdom passed down by Indigenous Elders about the cyclical nature of animal populations and the importance of gratitude after each successful track or capture added depth to my scientific understanding.

I am humbled and so grateful to so many people who helped me to understand and to grow along my journey, and to have been able to express myself throughout. Receiving the Jim Bourque Award is an amazing gift of recognition which I never expected. Jim was a close friend of mine and a person I highly respected.

Do you have an Instagram account? Can you spell "Tick Tock"? Do you know what an "influencer" is? If all your answers to these social media questions are "Yes", and they come as easily as saying how many toes you have, chances are you're aged under 40. But if you hesitate or have no idea, you're probably Gen X or even a Baby Boomer. And that's a problem the fur trade needs to address.

Yes, these are generalisations, just as it is to say that the fur trade is ageing, but like most generalisations, they are based in truth.

Social media have become an important way to communicate directly to consumers without having to deal with the middlemen, or gatekeepers, of traditional mainstream media. But so far, the fur trade has been slow to exploit social media, and the main reason is that its managers have grey hair, and most of the people they manage have grey hair too! Social media are aimed primarily at younger people, who also create most of the content, and with little young blood currently entering the trade, keeping up with this trend has become a pressing issue.

At just 24 years old, fur advocate Nora Lacasse doesn't pull her punches when describing the crisis.

"The fur trade is aging and unless we start creating content that feels young, fun, and actually scrollable, we risk losing the next generation entirely," says Nora, who literally grew up with social media. "A lot of traditional fur leaders still approach messaging in a very conventional, institutional way, which simply doesn’t perform in the social media space."

If you recognise yourself in this description of an ageing manager, struggling to keep up with the latest trends, maybe we can still turn things around.

Lose Your Biases

I'm 69, and have little time for social media in my private life – for good reason in my view. I yearn for a past when life seemed simpler and slower, before electronic gadgets began dominating every facet of our existence. Another common gripe among my peers is that today's kids have the attention span of a gnat, favouring shocking images and sound bytes over, say, reading books or even blog posts!

But our ideal world is not the world we currently live in. If you are a manager responsible for marketing or public relations, you can't do your job well unless you also keep up with the times.

So the first thing you must do is lose your biases, or at least set them aside.

You may see Instagram as just a way to share photos that don't even belong to you, but for millions of users it's a source of information and entertainment, and a sophisticated marketing tool. To you, TikTok (correct spelling!) may only be for teenagers looking to twerk and share pranks, but these kids are buying products now, or will be very soon. And while you may think of Facebook as only being good for showing friends what you had for breakfast with a side of fake news, it has also become a powerful marketing tool when in the right hands.

By all means, continue dreaming about tossing your cellphone in the river one day, but if you're in marketing or public relations, wait until you actually retire. You already know that billions of other people depend utterly on their cellphones, and these are the people you should be selling to.

Workload

So you've resolved to up your social media game, but before you take the plunge, consider the work involved.

The most common question asked is how often you should post. There are no hard and fast rules, but if you're posting on Instagram, the consensus is that 1-2 posts per day is fine. For some people, that's already a lot (in terms of time and content), but multiply it by, say, four social media platforms, and you should think about streamlining your operations!

Another rule is that quality trumps quantity. So don't think you can post a load of rubbish just to keep your posting frequency up!

And will all your content strike the same tone, or will you be mixing it up? How much of your content will be original, how much will be sharing others' content, and will you be customising content for different platforms?

Last but not least, you're really supposed to spend time analysing your audiences to see what's working and what's not, and responding with changes as needed. There are several apps to help you in this, but don't forget to read all your visitors' comments too!

Good Role Models

If you're still determined to tackle social media head-on, your next step is to check out what others are doing, and here there is good news: you don't actually have to look beyond the fur trade. That's right; a handful of your younger colleagues are already fully engaged.

A good example is New England Naturals, a maker of custom fur pieces and other natural products in New Hampshire. On founding the company in 2017, Riley and Jake DeBow, both now 31, decided education was key to their business, and in 2020 launched their TikTok channel. Today they also have Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

With material repurposed for posting on each platform, a newcomer might expect the four audiences to react in similar ways. Not so, says Jake. Rather, there are "substantial differences" between them, in particular in their ages but also in their attitudes.

"The older crowds don't like the 'modern' social media apps," he says, "and the younger crowds have drifted away from the older apps like Facebook and YouTube."

So what differences does he see?

"TikTok users are mostly aged 30 or younger, and want to be entertained," says Jake. "They like comedy, and post jokes in the comments section. Some of them have not even heard of trapping, but still they engage."

"Instagram users give us the most community support. Most are aged from 25-55, and they are interested in trapping and a subsistence lifestyle. They want to learn and feel part of a community, with most engagement coming from people who are inquisitive and deeply curious about the content we create."

"Then there are YouTubers, who tend to be people who are not on 'popular' channels like Instagram and TikTok. Many are trappers who like videos that explain the fine details and specifics of trapping and fur handling."

"And then there are our Facebook users, the oldest of the lot, with many over the age of 55. They are the most critical of our content. Anti-trappers are very active and loud, but so are the trapping community."

If nothing else, one takeaway here is that audiences differ, which is why people who take social media seriously use multiple platforms. Life would be simpler if we all used the same one, but as I've already said, life is no longer simple!

Influencers

After reading all the above, it would be totally understandable if your response was, "I just don't have time!" But there is another option: influencers.

Your typical influencer is a freelance expert in social media who creates content for a paying client, endorsing a product in the hope of increasing sales. This is usually achieved by projecting nuanced messages aimed at changing a consumer's mindset. In the case of fur, these messages might focus on sustainable use, the role of trapping in wildlife management, or the warmth and beauty of fur.

So how do you go about choosing the right influencer?

For famous brands, it might be as simple as giving a celebrity a luxury garment in exchange for their promise to go nightclubbing in it. But for the rest of us, the process is a little more hit-and-miss.

It's not a minefield, though. Indeed, all the steps you need to take are basic to all management.

Step 1 (see above) is to set aside your biases. If you still see influencers as hustlers offering good reviews in exchange for free food and clothing (or vice-versa), most of these people are quickly drummed out of business. If you get the slightest hint you're dealing with one, just walk away.

Step 2 is to educate yourself as much as possible about the influencer market so you can at least sound knowledgeable in negotiations over things like budget and deliverables.

And Step 3 is to ask for recommendations.

"So far, the Fur Institute of Canada has only dipped its toe in the influencer market to promote fur, working primarily with Nora Lacasse," says Executive Director Doug Chiasson. At just 24, Nora already has a reputation as an advocate of fur, content creator, and a candidate for Miss Universe Canada 2025. "Early in 2025, we ran a small Instagram campaign with a range of influencers, which helped us build a relationship with Nora. We then invited Nora to Première Vision Montreal to create some interesting content."

SEE ALSO: Nora Lacasse: Sustainable fur advocate. The Truth About Fur podcast, July 29, 2025.

"The experience so far has been positive," continues Doug. "Our Instagram following has grown, some FIC members have independently struck up deals with Nora, and other organizations are talking to us about how we approach influencer marketing."

So how is Nora finding life as a fur influencer?

"It’s been a powerful journey representing fur on social media and now on the pageant national stage," she says. "There’s been backlash, yes – but also momentum. The resistance proves the message is bold, and it’s starting the right conversations."

"For lifestyle and fashion, Instagram and TikTok are where the momentum is. Both are essential, but Instagram is the core of my brand."

Like Jake DeBow, she also sees differences in her audiences.

"The Instagram audience tends to be slightly older and more consumer-conscious than on TikTok," she says. "They are more likely to engage thoughtfully, especially when it comes to luxury or sustainability. TikTok, on the other hand, is great for reaching younger users and testing fast, engaging formats. Gen Zers [born 1997 to 2012] haven’t grown up with the same narratives. They're more open-minded and curious, especially as fast fashion starts to lose its appeal. I’ve personally seen way more traction and engagement from younger audiences on TikTok. It’s fast, visual, and where growth is happening."

"Facebook is more for an older demographic, and honestly, that group is harder to influence; they’ve been heavily marketed to, especially when it comes to fur, and many already have strong emotional responses."

Scrolling, Swiping

So what does the future hold for social media and the fur trade? Can we hope that all our grey-haired managers will respond to this call to arms? And are there enough youngsters waiting to receive their marching orders? Or are influencers the way to go?

However we choose to face this challenge, Nora and Jake agree that the pace will be fast and furious.

"Just putting out information isn't enough," says Nora. "People don’t want a lecture, they want something thought-provoking, visually compelling, or even a little controversial. The irony is that fur is slow fashion. But if we want it to thrive, it has to be willing to move at the speed of the scroll."

"Attention spans now are short, and one reason why fast fashion brands are thriving is because their videos are packaged in a way that speaks to a fast-paced, younger audience in short videos, bold statements, emotional or aesthetic appeal."

Jake points to the speed at which people swipe as the reason to deliver messages in the punchiest way imaginable. "Feeds change so quickly and videos become irrelevant after a short period of time, so we need to be sure that messaging doesn't fall through the cracks. And the most important messages need to be delivered in the first sentence of a video or you risk viewers not getting to the important information as they swipe so quickly."

Visually compelling messages? Videos that become irrelevant? Key messages in the first sentence? Viewers scrolling or swiping like whirling dervishes? Like it or not, this is the world we all live in, but can the grey-haired fur trade adapt?

The Fur Institute of Canada's (FIC) 2025 Annual General Meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, started with a bang! Five days of meetings, from June 10-14, were scheduled to be held at one venue, but at the eleventh hour an electrical fire knocked out half the conference centre, forcing everything to be moved next door! Thankfully, the staffs of both venues, and of the FIC, were equal to the task, and made the huge upheaval look like nothing.

Meanwhile, the AGM took place against the backdrop of the Stanley Cup Final of the National Hockey League, between the local Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. Needless to say, Oilers fans were out in force, but sadly there was no fairy tale ending. On June 17, the Panthers clinched their second-consecutive Cup in game six of the best-of-seven series.

As for the comparatively undramatic meetings themselves, the focus was on provincial / territorial collaboration, both amongst regulators and trappers. Regulations were the purview of the Canadian Furbearer Management Committee, made up of government wildlife managers, while updates on the latest developments in humane trapping fell to the FIC's Trap and Research & Development Committee.

The week also featured a long-anticipated and well-overdue meeting of Trappers’ Associations from coast to coast. The meeting was well attended, with the majority of provincial trappers’ associations in Canada in attendance. Stay tuned to Truth About Fur for a future piece centred on this meeting.

"Provincial and territorial governments and trappers associations are essential to guiding the work of the Institute," said FIC Executive Director Doug Chiasson. "It was great to have so many of them represented here in Edmonton, and we look forward to even more attending our next AGM."

Social Events

Day three was given over to socialising, combining an afternoon at Beaverhill Sporting Clays shooting range followed by dinner at Fort Edmonton Park, hosted by the Alberta Trappers Association and Canadian Coyote Company.

As the organisers of any such event will tell you, a little fun and games is an essential part of team-building. And if it involves firearms (no animals were harmed!), a spectacular historical setting, some of the best steak many could remember, listening to a cowboy balladeer beside an open fire, and cheering on the Oilers on a tablet in their victorious Game 4, so much the better!

"The FIC AGM is always a great chance to get together with the FIC membership from across Canada, handle some serious business and have a good time as well,” said FIC Chairman Jason White.

Banquet and Awards

Following the conclusion of the AGM, the FIC hosted a banquet with keynote speaker the Honourable Todd Loewen, Alberta's Minister of Forestry and Parks. As a dedicated trapper and outdoorsman himself, Todd was certainly among friends.

Also present to greet the banquet was another outdoorsman, MP Blaine Calkins. Blaine is currently chair of the Conservative Hunting and Angling Caucus.

Then came the Awards ceremony, with FIC Board member Serge Larivière, of the Cree Hunters Economic Security Board, acting as master of ceremonies. Awards were given to five recipients.

The Neal Jotham Award, sponsored by the Saskatchewan Trappers Association, went to Bryant White, a wildlife biologist and Furbearer Research Program manager with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Bryant's work focuses on coordinating projects involving US state and federal wildlife agencies, especially research related to Best Management Practices for the conservation of furbearers.

SEE ALSO: People of the fur trade: Bryant White. Truth About Fur.

The Jim Bourque Award, sponsored by the International Fur Federation, went to Patricia Dwyer, a director of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Long a proponent of humane trapping, the career of this Métis resident of northern Alberta has included positions with the Federal and Provincial Committee on Humane Trapping and the Department now known as Crown-Indigenous Relations, and over 20 years of experience as the Chief of Aboriginal Affairs and International Wildlife with the Canadian Wildlife Service.

SEE ALSO: Bringing Indigenous perspective to the future of Canadian Wildlife Federation. Say Magazine, September 2024.

The North American Furbearer Conservation Award went to biologist Dr. Tim L. Hiller, founder and executive director of the Wildlife Ecology Institute in Helena, Montana. Tim also heads a team of editors now undertaking the daunting task of updating the 1,150-page Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America, considered the key reference in its field. Colloquially known as "the bible for furbearer management", the tome has not been updated since it was published in 1987.

The Lloyd Cook Award, sponsored by Fur Harvesters Auction, went to Ross Hinter, Public Liaison and Program Development Coordinator of the Alberta Trappers Association. Together with wife Deborah, Ross also operates North Trapping & Bushcraft, teaching trapping, traditional hide tanning, resolutions to human / wildlife conflicts, and other workshops. Ross has been teaching for more than three decades, throughout Alberta and British Columbia.

SEE ALSO: Alberta trapper Ross Hinter teaches about wildlife habitat. Truth About Fur.

The Fur Institute of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award went to Gordy Klassen. A past president of the Alberta Trappers Association and FIC Board member, Gordy has put his time, effort and money into helping educate trappers about the importance of furbearer management, and has hosted countless meetings at his own homestead.

SEE ALSO: People of the fur trade: Gordy Klassen. Truth About Fur.

Our Sponsors

The FIC would like to thank all the sponsors who were essential in supporting the AGM: our host sponsor, the Government of Alberta; our Gold (Wolverine) Sponsor, the Alberta Trappers Association; our Silver (Wolf) Sponsor, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association; and our Bronze (Lynx) Sponsor, Canadian Coyote Company.

How you feel about the Met Gala – or haute couture in general – says something about you as a person. For example, if you're a designer who thinks it's a good investment to spend a small fortune to have celebrities pose for the cameras in your bespoke designs, the Gala may be for you. But if your wardrobe stretches only to jeans and fake Crocs, maybe not.

To put it another way, is the Gala really "fashion's biggest night", to use a now popular catch phrase of the media? Or is it just a very successful marketing exercise that allows A-listers to play dress-up while someone else foots the bill?

For the jeans-and-Crocs crowd who may be unfamiliar with the Met Gala, it's a fundraiser held each May to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. First held in 1946, since 1995 it has been "curated" by Vogue magazine's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. Designers currently pay an eye-watering US$75,000 to have famous people – mostly, but not always, from the performing arts – photographed and filmed in their bespoke robes. It generates a ton of money (allegedly far more than the Institute needs) and unrivaled media coverage. In 2023, software company Launchmetrics estimated that it generated nearly double the "media impact value" of the Super Bowl.

It is also very exclusive. Aside from the massive entry fee for designers, both they and celebrities must be invited. Only 650 or so people are thus privileged each year, and walk-ins – no matter how rich or famous you may be – are strictly prohibited.

SEE ALSO: Why the fur trade needs "frivolous" high fashion. Truth About Fur.

"Fashion's Biggest Night"?

First, a confession of sorts. I've been called a "fashion heathen" because, well, I belong firmly in the jeans-and-Crocs crowd. But I also believe strongly in vive la différence, so if you want to dress in ribbons and bows, and douse yourself in a cloud of cologne, we can still be friends!

That said, how do you all feel about the now popular description of the Met Gala as "fashion's biggest night"? Is it deserved? And what's with the blatant unoriginality of all those headline writers?

Women’s Wear Daily introduced this year's Met Gala as “fashion’s biggest night”, deeming it necessary (perhaps with a little embarrassment?) to explain that that's how it's “known in popular culture”. The BBC chose the exact same words, while CNN mixed it up ever so slightly by calling it “fashion’s biggest night out”.

Turn the clock back a year or two, and both Glamour and CBS News called it – you guessed – “fashion’s biggest night”!

And these are only the tip of the iceberg. Just Google "fashion's biggest night" and see what comes up!

Even Wikipedia, not hamstrung by having to write catchy headlines, calls the Gala “the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event.”

Is the Gala really such a huge deal for the fashion industry? Do such prestigious events as the fashion weeks of New York, London and Paris have nothing to compare?

What Does a Designer Say?

In search of balance, I asked New Zealand designer Jane Avery whether she shared this gushing enthusiasm.

SEE ALSO: What's it like showing at a major fashion week? Jane Avery finds out. Truth About Fur.

Truth About Fur: Speaking as a designer yourself, does the Met Gala deserve to be called "fashion's biggest night"?

Jane Avery: I’m a fan. The Met Gala is in the same vein as a highly anticipated sports event. There’s been lots of Stanley Cup ice hockey on our TV screen lately [Ed.: Though the Averys live in New Zealand, Jane's husband is Canadian], but this week I got to live stream the Gala while I did my household chores. Talk about another universe! Just as Vogue is the world's premier fashion mag, the Gala is undoubtedly "fashion’s biggest night". And it's much more exciting to someone like me than a Maple Leafs win! 

This year's phenomenal media build-up reflects the interest that many people have, and the exhibition theme of "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" was important, timely and absolutely deserving of the world stage.

TAF: That's an unequivocal vote of support. But how about the proceeds? Is the Met Museum’s Costume Institute a worthy cause?

JA: It’s easy to be cynical, but what we're seeing is really a power for good. The Costume Institute is one of the planet's most precious repositories of clothing and fashion history, and it's the collective intention of the many people in the world of haute couture, from bottom to top, marketing executives included, to see it thrive and be preserved. I'd call it a very worthy cause.

Plus we all get to benefit. Anyone can visit the Costume Institute galleries and immerse themselves in the exhibits showing pinnacles of human achievement in clothing design and construction. 

TAF: That's another strong vote of support! So how do you respond to criticism that the Met Gala is "elitist"?

JA: Maybe the label "elitist" is fitting, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We often associate elites with wealthy and powerful people, but they can also refer to people with special skills, and throughout history these two groups have often worked together in their mutual pursuit of excellence. The money and influence of one group enables the other. We call it "patronage", and whether you agree with it or not, the results have often been spectacular. Without the business acumen of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo would never have painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel!

So while it's easy to dub the Met Gala as a mere marketing exercise paid for by clothing brands, it's actually about the pursuit of excellence, and realising this excellence on a global stage requires many resources. What you see on the Gala’s red carpet is the sum total of incredible achievements by scores of very skilled (elite) people, not just the designers. For example, there are ateliers full of skilled seamstresses and embroiderers. If there were no elitism, what would happen to this pursuit of beauty and accomplishment?

TAF: Fair enough, but I'm getting stuck on that entrance fee for designers of $75,000. Isn't it a little excessive?

JA: Of course the Met Gala is a marketing exercise, but for any elite enterprise, a big budget is the norm. Plus, all that money – no matter where it goes – just adds to the mystique. Think sport! For most people, the huge salaries of Super Bowl players and half-time performers, not to mention the cost of advertising, just add to the special appeal.

TAF: OK, I'm sold! Switching tack, one way in which the Met Gala democratises participation is to invite viewers to vote for their favourite creations. What were yours this year?

JA: A fine example, worn by American actor Walton Goggins, was a deconstructed yet immaculately tailored outfit by Thom Browne paying homage to the hidden artisans of fashion. So good. 

Then there was the outfit of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan created by India's preeminent designer, Sabyasachi Mukherjee. It's wonderful to see Mukherjee's pursuit of elite excellence and devotion to India’s craft traditions and craftspeople recognised and honoured at the Met Gala.

But my very favourite look this year was the sublime suit worn by racing driver Lewis Hamilton and created by Grace Wales Bonner. It also highlighted the importance of choosing the right models. Not only was Hamilton very involved in the creation of his suit, but his personal story is all about the fundamental pursuit of human excellence.

(Ed.: TAF reminds readers that while Sir Lewis may dress nicely, he is a vegan activist and no friend to the fur trade. Other designers at this year's Met Gala clearly felt differently, as the International Fur Federation reported.)

Kudos Must Be Due Then

So there you have it. For a real designer, who actually knows a cross stitch from a blanket stitch, the Met Gala is unquestionably "fashion's biggest night", and the costumes it produces are "sublime".

As for the designers and organisers – in particular Anna Wintour – who put it all together, kudos must be due for knowing the value of their products. If they didn't, the Gala would not be the huge commercial success it has undeniably become!

And last but not least, here's a message for all you fellow fashion heathens: don't feel bad! Keep right on wearing your jeans and Crocs, confident in the knowledge that we were not all brought into this world to like the same things. Vive la difference!

On April 22-23, the Grand Quay of the Port of Montreal was the venue for the first Première Vision trade fair in Canada, and many representatives of the fur trade turned up to lend their support. While Première Vision Montreal covered all aspects of the fashion trade, the city plays a major role in the country's fur trade, making the presence of these representatives indispensable.

We are particularly appreciative of the efforts of two men who played key roles in positioning fur prominently in this iconic fair's first visit to Canada: Mathieu St-Arnaud Lavoie, Executive Director of Mmode and Montreal Fashion Week, and Mitch Fazekas, proprietor of local furrier Mitchie’s Matchings.

Strong support also came from other representatives of the fur trade, notably the Fur Institute of Canada (FIC), Canadian Seal Products, Canada Mink Breeders Association (CMBA), Saga Furs, Natural Furs International / FURB upcycled, Créations Gama, and Écofaune boréale.

SEE ALSO: Fashion students pumped at Montreal Fur Rendezvous. Truth About Fur.

So What Is Première Vision?

Première Vision was founded in 1973 in Lyon, France, by a group of professionals from the silk industry, for which the city has long been renowned. Still headquartered in Lyon today, it is now wholly owned by GL events.

It approaches an event by first identifying a sector of the fashion trade. This is typically geographical – Première Vision Paris is its main event, but it has also hosted Made In France Première Vision, Première Vision New York, and now Première Vision Montreal. Alternatively, it may focus on other aspects, such as Denim Première Vision and Blossom Première Vision, the latter being dedicated to pre-collections of high-end, luxury and creative fashion brands.

It then takes a holistic approach to meet the needs of every player in that sector, promoting collaboration while facilitating the creation of cutting-edge fashion collections. This involves bringing suppliers, designers, creatives and other industry professionals together under one roof, while highlighting the latest trends in colours, fabrics and innovative solutions.

"I'd Call That a Success!"

One of the fair's many happy participants was Rob Bollert, Vice President of the CMBA.

"We had a steady flow of traffic to our booth, enabling us to showcase the high standards of animal care on Canadian mink farms – a reality that is widely misrepresented by anti-fur activists," he said. "We also explained our robust welfare assurance program, Certifur. I'd call that a success!"

"In particular, we had a lot of visits from students at local fashion schools who had come to attend the fair's impressive range of seminars," he continued. "As one would expect, given the current fashion trend, many were intrigued with vintage furs. That's not strictly our line of business, but it did allow us to showcase the longevity and sustainability of our product."

Panel Discussion

Also offered at the Montreal fair were two days of seminars and panel discussions in English and French – 24 in all – covering such diverse topics as "Financing fashion: Grants and opportunities for Quebec designers" and "Fashion weeks: A launchpad for designers and the industry".

Of particular interest to fur fans was a panel discussion entitled "Fur: A new day for a traditional fabric". Moderator Marine Savard of Mmode was joined by Julio Suarez Christiansen of Saga Furs, Christina Nacos of Natural Furs International and FURB upcycled, and Gabrielle Mailhot-Côté of Créations Gama.

The panel explored the recent resurgence in fur's popularity as manufacturers, retailers and consumers increasingly recognise it as a sustainable choice.

This March, veteran Ontario mink farmer Kirk Rankin was honoured by the Stratford Perth Museum with the addition of his name to its Agricultural Wall of Fame. Launched in 2014, the Wall honours individuals from Perth County who have made outstanding contributions to local agriculture.

Kirk and family have been raising mink near the town of St. Marys, southwestern Ontario, since his grandfather, Dow, began the business in 1937. Then a cheese-maker with an eye for the next opportunity, Dow Rankin saw his cousin farming mink and decided to follow suit. Starting with just three breeding females, by the time Dow's son, Jim, returned from college in 1949, he had grown the herd to 40 females. In time, Jim took over the reins with his best friend, William Bradley, and incorporated the farm in 1965. R.B.R. Fur Farms is named for two Rankins, Dow and Jim, and a B for William.

Then along came Jim's son, Kirk Rankin, who at first pursued a career in forestry, but later opted to make a life with future wife Judith on the family farm.

Nowadays, Kirk and Judith run R.B.R. Fur Farms with sons Jamie and Curtis, and nephew Steve. That's four generations!

At the farm’s busiest in the mid-2000s, it raised the kits of over 4,000 breeding females.

SEE ALSO: A year on a mink farm. Part 1: Breeding. Truth About Fur.

Leadership Roles

During all this time, Kirk has filled several leadership roles, mostly in the mink-farming industry but also in the wider agricultural sector.

His first leadership role was as President of the St. Marys Mink Breeders Association, an organisation he had joined while still in high school.

He then served as President of the Ontario Fur Breeders Association.

From 1994 to 2020, he was also a Director of the Perth County Federation of Agriculture, where he advocated on land use planning issues and the importance of agriculture in developing policies.

And from 2004 until 2018, he was a board member of the Canada Mink Breeders Association, where he served as President from 2013 to 2015. Among the several committees he chaired was one responsible for revising the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Mink.

This is not the first time the Rankin family have been honoured for their contributions to agriculture. For example, in 2014 they were featured for the month of February in the annual Faces of Farming calendar produced by Farm & Food Care Ontario.

And in 2018, R.B.R. Fur Farms received a BMO Ontario Farm Family Award for its outstanding contributions to Ontario's agricultural sector and rural way of life.

Animal Activists

Kirk is also known for his outspoken views on animal activist raids on livestock farmers.

In July 2015, activists released 6,800 mink from his farm, at a time when the majority were kits and the herd totalled about 26,000. Just the previous May, activists had raided another local mink farm.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and some people don’t want us to raise the animals for their fur," he said at the time, "but basically we take a lot of human waste that people choose not to eat and turn it into a very luxurious, good-looking, warm product.”

“So, I don’t agree with them at all that what we are doing is wrong. I agree that everybody certainly has their opinion and if you don’t want to wear fur, then you are entitled to not wear fur.”

“Everybody gets their own opinion, but some people believe that they have the power, and I totally disagree with them, to break the law and do things to people who are in the fur business. So, if they maybe looked into it, they would understand what we do and why we do it. If they still don’t want to wear fur, that is their right in our country.”

Thankfully, raids on mink farms by animal activists are far rarer now than they once were, so we're hoping Kirk can enjoy his twilight years in peace.

Few countries are as closely associated with one animal as Canada is with the North American beaver. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Castor canadensis is Canada's national animal, a status it has officially held for 50 years. On March 24, 1975, the National Symbol of Canada Act received royal assent, recognising the beaver as "a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada".

Most Canadians support this choice of national symbol because they recognise the key role played by the beaver in the country's history, but our love of the animal is not universal.

On the plus side, this herbivorous, semi-aquatic rodent is found in every province and territory of the country, so at least it lives here. In contrast, some countries pay homage to animals that are extremely rare, or even non-existent in the wild, like England's lion!

In a comical way, it's also cute – like a buck-toothed, plump gent with stubby legs and a tail like a washboard that it sits on! (If it had a hairless whip of a tail like a rat, would you still love it?)

And by no means least, in an age when the topic of climate change is on everyone's lips, the beaver is lauded by scientists as "nature's engineer" for building dams and canals that slow runoff in drought-prone regions.

There is a downside, though. As detractors are quick to point out, beavers also destroy culverts and stands of trees, and cause flooding.

SEE ALSO: The dam, the myth, the legend: 50 years of the beaver. Canadian Geographic, March 4, 2025.

Since Prehistoric Times

Of course, recognition of the important role played by beavers in Canada's history began long ago; in 1975 it was just made official.

Beavers almost certainly helped clothe and feed North America's first human inhabitants, at least 14,000 years ago. What is certain is that in the millennia that followed, Indigenous peoples made good use of beaver fur, bones, meat, and castoreum, a substance secreted by glands that makes excellent bait for carnivores. As evidence of this cultural and economic importance, beavers have always featured prominently on totem poles of the Pacific Northwest.

Above all, though, the beaver is recognised today as the driver behind the westward expansion of European fur traders, without whom the country we know today might look very different. In the 16th century, beaver pelts were already extremely popular in Europe for making waterproof felt hats, robes and winter coats. But as Eurasian beaver numbers dried up, swarms of French and later British adventurers came to what would become Canada, where beavers were still plentiful. These people traded with locals for beaver pelts, usually peacefully – marriage frequently helped seal a business relationship – but sometimes less peacefully. Just the name Beaver Wars, fought in the 17th century between the Iroquois Confederacy and various other First Nations, often with French colonial forces, says it all.

Up until the mid-1800s, then, the fur trade was the backbone of this colonial economy, while discerning European gentlemen still sought out beaver top hats rather than those made of silk "hatter's plush", which by then dominated the market.

From Stamps to Mascots

It was in this period that the beaver firmly established itself as a symbol in heraldic achievements (commonly but erroneously called coats of arms), including in that of the Hudson's Bay Company. On receiving its royal charter in 1670, Canada's oldest corporation made its founders wealthy through trading, mainly for fur, and in particular beaver fur.

Over time, the beaver has lent its image or name to a diverse range of causes, for example:

1833: Though it has changed over time, the coat of arms of Montreal has always featured a beaver;
1851: The Province of Canada issued what is considered to be the country's first postage stamp, the “Threepenny Beaver”;
1857: Since this date, the University of Toronto coat of arms has included one or two beavers;
1886: Canadian Pacific Railway began using a logo of a beaver atop a shield. The beaver was chosen to honour key investor Donald Smith, who was also a former governor of Hudson's Bay Company;
1937: Through the reigns of three British monarchs, the beaver has appeared on the reverse of Canada's 5-cent "nickel" coin;
1948: de Havilland Canada introduced a single-engined bush plane, the DHC-2 Beaver;
1966: Since its founding, the arms of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada have featured a beaver;
1976: Amik the beaver was selected as the official mascot of the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal. "Amik" is Algonquin for "beaver";
1992: The coat of arms of Manitoba was augmented with the addition of a beaver crest.

And as if this were not enough, Canadians celebrate National Beaver Day on the last Friday of every February. Given the animal's reputation for industriousness, it's fitting that this is not a holiday, but a chance for us all to be extra "busy beavers"!

SEE ALSO: Abundant furbearers: An environmental success story. Truth About Fur.

Are you an artisan designer from a remote region, creating stunning fur fashion but still wondering how to break into the "big time"? Maybe you can learn from the experience of Jane Avery, a designer from New Zealand's South Island, who recently crossed the world to show her wares on a catwalk in Vancouver.

Truth About Fur: You launched the Lapin label in 2017, combining exotic fabrics with the fur of invasive wild rabbits, responsible for tremendous ecological damage in New Zealand. Your garments are spectacular and your environmental message is strong, so last November you accepted a longstanding invitation to show your wares on the other side of the planet. Is the New Zealand market too limiting for you? Is the urge to go international just irresistible? And aren't there other major fashion weeks closer to home than Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW)?

SEE ALSO: New Zealand designer embraces wild rabbit "eco-fur". Truth About Fur.

Jane Avery: Ever since I started Lapin, my intention was to “go international”. New Zealanders are notorious for wanting to leave our islands and seek their fortune in the big blue yonder. It’s part of our national character as isolated Antipodeans. So in the eyes of my fellow Kiwis, it’s certainly good for Lapin to earn kudos as an “international adventurer”. This is where I make my living after all, and we love it when a plucky compatriot takes a New Zealand story to the world.   

New Zealand keeps me plenty busy fulfilling client work, but I am curious to know whether Lapin can succeed beyond these shores. And the Northern Hemisphere is the obvious choice for anyone in fur fashion.

There's a traditional appreciation of fur in northern countries, both cultural and because some can be so cold. In contrast, the majority of New Zealand’s fashion audience is in the sub-tropical North Island in cities like Auckland. Given the warmer climate, people there may like my work but they don’t necessarily see it as relevant to their wardrobes. I guess Australia's Melbourne Fashion Week might be a future aspiration for me, as it gets cold enough there in winter.

As for being drawn by the dream of hitting the big time, I think my coats and jackets would look wonderful on red carpets and certain global celebrities.

TAF: Canada certainly has a strong fur tradition, but was there anything in particular that drew you to Vancouver?

JA: It attracted me for a few reasons, both personal and professional.

On a personal level, Vancouver was my husband's home during his tertiary education, so it’s a familiar haunt and we have good friends to stay with.

From a fashion perspective, I considered both the city and the fashion show. At first glance, the city's style may seem to be dominated by puffer jackets and camel overcoats, but there’s also a quiet yet definitive fashion presence there – an "if you know, you know" kind of vibe.

As for the show itself, since VFW was founded in 2001, it has grown to become the second-largest fashion week in North America, after New York.

It provides a platform for designers to show their wares both to a local audience and also, thanks to the digital age, international fashion-watchers too. It does a great job of distributing images to a plethora of fashion-related businesses, including other shows, PR companies, buyers and stylists – everyone with their eyes peeled for potential talent.

TAF: You actually launched Lapin at a smaller fashion week in New Zealand's Dunedin, so VFW was not your first. During the seven years between Dunedin and Vancouver, how did you keep moving forward?

JA: iD Dunedin Fashion Week is an excellent platform for emerging designers in its own right, for getting noticed in our part of the world and also further afield thanks to the Internet. I was spotted, and in the weeks that followed, I received several offers to show by, among others, VFW.

But even though these offers intrigued me, I held them at arm's length. Showing at an international fashion week, no matter how close to home, is a big investment, especially for a new business. It was important for me to establish Lapin within New Zealand first, and eye the big wide world from afar for a while.

Also bear in mind that slow fashion is slow, and I’m only one pair of hands. It would be quite impossible for me to show a new collection every year or even every two years. I struggle with the reality of not being able to realise all of my fabulous ideas in a more timely manner. But hey, I am extremely privileged to be able to work independently in my chosen field, and satisfy the desires of clients paying for my work. It’s amazing really.

So I kept busy, for example producing my own show in 2018, also in Dunedin, in collaboration with a local jewellery designer. And in 2019 I hosted a workshop at my studio. Then came Covid and the years of "pivoting" happened. I supplemented my Lapin work with vintage fur up-cycling and cultivating clients for possum fur decor. Then in 2022 and 2023 we had major family issues, which meant Lapin couldn't take centre stage.

SEE ALSO: Recycling vintage fur New Zealand style. Truth About Fur.

TAF: And then in 2024 came VFW, which must have been a change of pace. What were you hoping to gain from the experience?

JA: When I committed to VFW, I felt like I was putting my dreams and schemes back on track.

Aside from gaining general fashion week experience, my primary objective was securing imagery. I knew that VFW puts out a high-end product devoted to showcasing designers well, so I was sure to come away with good photos and video of my work being worn by professional models on a well-lit, well-attended runway. And I’m pleased with the result. I now have plenty of good stuff for my various publicity avenues, and it'll keep the social media beast fed for a while.

Also, as I hoped, I’ve had a few more invitations to fashion weeks plus enquiries from big city PR companies.

So I’m happy Lapin is being noticed outside of New Zealand, and I now have the confidence to  show anywhere in the world.

TAF: You mentioned the importance these days of digital technologies in getting exposure for designers. Did VFW have any surprises for you?

JA: A big revelation for me was the sheer speed at which fashion images get out now, and viewers react. The posting of photos on Instagram was so fast and furious, it took me days to unravel the likes, shares and message requests!

There were some thrilling surprises too. Digital fashion platforms that featured my looks included Vogue Italia and Vogue México! Imagine seeing my brand on the same page as the “V” word!

I also dipped my toe into the world of fashion influencers and digital creators. I made a genuine connection with a fashion-forward lass from Vancouver Island, Josie Amanda Boulding. She was sitting front row for the Lapin show, and posted the next day how my presentation made her think about fur differently. At New York Fashion Week this February, Josie will be there wearing her Lapin "Incognito" jacket. An "advance guard", I call her!

TAF: How about sales? Did you manage to make any while in Vancouver?

JA: I tried, but it was harder than I thought.

As an artisan designer making bespoke pieces, it’s never been my plan to court major store or boutique buyers. Instead I aim to present to fashionable individuals looking for something exceptional. Still, I thought I stood a fair chance of making some sales while in the city.

But it's difficult for a small brand all the way from New Zealand to generate local media attention, and while VFW profiles the season’s designers on its website and social media, and issues press releases, there’s no venue for displaying wares other than at the catwalk show.

So instead, I arranged private appointments in a hotel suite for interested people to try and buy. But there was minimal uptake. That was all part of the learning experience, I guess!

TAF: So overall, was VFW a positive outing for you? Would you advise other artisans dreaming of the big time to aim for a major fashion week too?

JA: Doing VFW was a big deal for me and I hope it was worth the effort, but quite frankly, I don't know yet. I've had my work recognised, and once again I've been able to tell people the environmental story behind Lapin. But whether major fashion weeks are an important promotional tool for designers like me, there are people far more qualified than I am to answer that. So I’m still in "wait and see" mode.

There are undoubtedly some positive takeaways, like all the professional photos and video you get of your work, that you can use as you see fit, and that appear in online fashion publications.

A word of caution though: if you're looking to get noticed in a world flooded with fashion images, be ready to invest a considerable amount of coin up front. Following up on just one of these invitations to show can cost a lot of money, so small businesses like mine can't say "yes" to all of them. Make good decisions and keep it real!

TAF: So what does the future hold?

JA: I hope I can take Lapin to an international stage again in the future, be that another fashion week, a trade show, or some fantastic opportunity that hasn’t yet presented. But for now, it's back to the work table, and hopefully I can find time to make a few new Lapin pieces.

Lapin’s next outing is in March at the Wānaka A&P Show – real feet-on-the-ground grassroots kind of stuff.  I’ll have a small marquee in a field along with tractors and agricultural produce, displaying Lapin wares and promoting my services with a sign saying "Vintage Fur Clinic".  I’ll be inviting locals to bring along their old furs for a chat about upcycling possibilities. But make no mistake – it's not a backward step. Folk in the lower South Island are very sophisticated. It’s great down here, and the rest of the world should know it!

Meanwhile, I’ll keep asking the universe for a famous somebody to fall in love with my coats and wear one to a sparkling event!

Lately, I forced myself to watch the quite popular Paul Watson : Une vie pour les océans [Paul Watson: A Life for the Oceans], broadcast on the European public service TV channel Arte. After learning that I appeared in it, I sort of had no choice but to check it out, right?

Full disclosure: I don’t like Watson, and you’ll quickly understand why.

The advertising film (because that’s what it really is) tries to ennoble the pseudo captain – a fake title that suits his equally fake character very well.

Because, if the "captain" has neither title nor official certification, he is part of a short list of characters who have managed, like other guys of the genre (for example UFO religion founder Raël, International Fund for Animal Welfare [IFAW] founder Brian Davies, and wealthy televangelist Joel Osteen), to make a living with others’ money, and that, before the advent of web influencers. Applying a well-tested recipe, these characters have all experienced a "moment of awakening". Raël, for example, was abducted by aliens, while Osteen was contacted by God. For Watson, the epiphany came from the eye of a dying sperm whale. In the narrative, it looks chic.

One can, of course, romanticize Watson's life, as Arte has done so well. Or one can see it for what it really is.

Violent Temperament

Like hundreds of thousands of young people, especially in the 1970s, Watson wanted to change the world, and participated in protests of all kinds. Environmental issues were starting to get traction around that time. He joined Greenpeace, which quickly kicked him out in 1977 because of his instability and violent temperament. As he relates in the long Arte commercial, his father was violent, and his mother died when he was still young. Any human being remains marked by this kind of childhood.

A year later, in 1978, he gave an interview to Barbara Frum of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) in which, in an attempt to take revenge on his former colleagues, he revealed the true motivations and financial tactics of these activist groups. Decades later, their tactics are still the same: using charismatic species to get donations from people. Truly endangered species, if non-charismatic, rarely get attention.

When Watson realized that his strategy did nothing to diminish donations to Greenpeace, he created the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and used the same tactics, with the same animal that filled the coffers of Greenpeace and IFAW: the seal.

It was during this period that I met Watson in the Magdalen Islands. You can see me for a few seconds in his commercial ... without my permission, of course. I am the only one who speaks in this excerpt (as French is my first language, my English is a little broken!), but not the only one whose images have been used without permission and who would refuse to be associated with such a criminal.

Because that's what Paul Watson is, a criminal.

Endangering Lives

He and his minions would like the world to believe that the Magdalen Islanders expelled him (to put it politely) from their archipelago because they were drunk and hated him for wanting to "save the baby seals", but that's obviously very far from the truth.

On several occasions throughout his career, Watson has instructed his crews to carry out maneuvers that endanger the lives of sailors, fishermen, hunters, husbands, fathers, and friends. The sailors of the Magdalen Islands have not escaped his intimidation techniques and they hated him for his scatterbrained and dangerous behaviour.

In the few minutes that Arte devotes to this episode, Watson tells more lies than I can relate here, but the funniest is when he claims to have "knocked out three of them with my stun gun". Even today, 30 years later, if you were to run into one of these sturdy guys, you'd quickly realize that the "captain" was no match for anyone in the group, even with the stun gun he invented to make it sound more Hollywood-like.

More precisely, when the dozen hunters entered the room, he crashed to the floor, livid, fear having sawed off his legs.

He knew exactly what he was doing when he came to taunt them on their own turf with his wacky proposal. As usual, he came to collect media images that he would use in fundraising activities. Efficient deceptions still require some effort and investment.

Since he was born not far from the Magdalen Islands, in New Brunswick, he would have been well aware of the affable nature of the people of the Maritimes. He certainly wouldn't have been treated with the same leniency in several other regions, as he surely knew very well.

Paul Watson has built his entire career on provocation. In 2008, when four Magdalen Island sealers lost their lives at sea, Watson couldn't resist shining a spotlight on himself by sullying their memory. His comments enraged all sailors worthy of the name, and, in solidarity, fishermen from the French territory of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon cut the moorings of his boat while docked on their archipelago. "Il peut revenir, mais à ses risques et périls," their representative said at the time ["He can return, but at his own risk."]

In truth, Watson is a troubled, megalomaniacal and dangerous being. Not in great physical shape, he's had no choice but to calm down with age, but that does not forgive his past actions.

It’s nothing short of a miracle nobody has died because of his reckless actions. Sure, lots of alcoholics drink and drive their whole lives without killing anyone, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be taken out of circulation for everyone’s sake.

Shifting to Whales

Watson only shifted to the whale-saving business because most of the funds intended for the rescue of "baby seals" was going to other organizations that were similar to his own but more effective in their propaganda and disinformation campaigns since they used media stars to reach people’s pockets. At the SSCS, he was the star, and he couldn't stand sharing the spotlight.

He says it himself in his interview with CBC: "There are over a thousand animals on the [US] Endangered Species List, and the harp seal isn't one of them." And nor is "the whale" because there is no such thing as "the whale". There are almost a hundred species of cetaceans. Some populations are doing well, others less so, but Watson does not trade in subtlety; it would become too complex for his generous admirers.

It was more valuable to create "THE whale" – the majestic, singing, intelligent, protective, wise one – the charismatic one. The one that brings in money for its valiant defender.

Watson went all-in with the bad boy persona (as much of the Sea Shepherd artwork proclaims loud and clear), and he naturally had the personality to match: the one who decides right and wrong, who doesn't have to follow the laws of inferior beings, i.e., all those who think otherwise. An interesting marketing strategy.

To simplify things further, Watson decides alone who’s poaching – not the competent authorities, the scientists or the sovereign nations. And whoever contradicts him obviously becomes the villain in his narrative. Sometimes in a Hollywood movie, the one who defies authority becomes the hero, but, unfortunately for him, in reality, that's also what defines a criminal.

"Empathetic Predator"

For decades now, I’ve been wondering why even seemingly brilliant minds sometimes fall for such devious characters and their masquerades.

Religious gurus have been around since the dawn of humanity, a phenomenon that is well documented. But environmental gurus (the environment being sort of the new religion) operate on new parameters.

When I discovered the fascinating work of the French ethnologist Charles Stépanoff, I found some clarity as a couple of our specie’s particularities caught my attention. Cooperative parenting, as an example, incites us to take care of offspring other than our own. And trans-species empathy allows deep feelings for otherness. The plethora of interactions between humans and other species, mixing ownership, companionship, domestication and sometimes even a form of family love, presents a complexity that is, indeed, difficult to match elsewhere in nature.

Most of the time, people living in natural, rural settings weave complex links with animal otherness. For example, a farmer can consider a dog or cat as a family member, spend nights watching over a sick cow, and also slaughter pigs. The entanglement of those forms of relationship are common and widespread. These people usually see themselves as an integral part of nature. Stépanoff qualifies their interspecies relationship as a “réseau dense" ["dense network”]. They love nature so much that they choose to live in its midst.

On the other hand, urban faunae maintain much simpler links with nature and other animal species. In the city, plants are potted, birds are caged, and cats are neutered. As for the people themselves, they visit a countryside they would prefer to be virgin and wild, like the ones they saw on National Geographic channel. They observe nature from afar and want to protect it, while removing any sign of it from their sterile environment at home. For the ethnologist, they maintain a "réseau étendu" [“spread network”] with animal otherness. Their lack of closeness with nature makes them vulnerable to animalist groups’ simplified rhetoric.

Besides, from a young age, we’re all comforted by plushies, anthropomorphized critters and Walt Disney’s cartoons. Some simply never really grow out of it.

On top of that, our world is increasingly urbanised, and those dense pockets of voters hold the balance of power in most democratic societies. In other words, those of us who are the most disconnected from nature are the ones calling the shots for us all, which explains in large part why our environment is deteriorating.

Paradoxically, urbanites believe they are part of the solution, not the problem. At best, letting them decide what’s ecologically sound is counterproductive. Most of the time, it is eco-colonialism in its purest form.

Stépanoff speaks of Homo sapiens as a "prédateur empathique" ["empathetic predator"]. Our ability to imagine ourselves in our prey’s position makes us an excellent hunter, but, without discernment, our empathy also requires us to question the morality of taking lives. Indeed, if you picture yourself in the prey's position, killing becomes a tragedy to avoid.

Some groups and individuals have turned this human duality into a business and prey on those of us who don’t maintain a dense network of relations with animal otherness. I don’t give them credit for that finding. Brian Davies, founder of IFAW, was one of the first to uncover the immense economic potential of this human singularity with seals in the 1970s, but that was a total fluke.

Most of those groups are disembodied ideological organizations such as IFAW, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA) or Greenpeace. Others, such as the SSCS, rely heavily on a single persona – in this case, "Captain" Paul Watson.

His feat is to have succeeded in convincing an impressive number of people of his act. Many have tried to apply the formula: "A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth," but before the Internet, few have succeeded on a large scale. It’s also true that the lone ranger fighting against the evil corporation story fits well in the now popular “conspiracy theories”. It’s all very poetic and everybody loves bedtime stories.

Logo, slogans, shocking images, charismatic species, good vs evil … the man knows how to manipulate the media and the masses, I’ll give him that much.

Does he still believe his own actions are well-founded? Of course. They've brought him fame and fortune, and his entourage identify him with this facade. After just a couple of years of that regime, there was no turning back. He became the character he had created, and it served him well too. I’m sure it’s the same with Raël and all other gurus.

Here, I would like to make a distinction. Most followers of these activist groups are sincerely hoping to do some good for the environment. Because of their urban living and natural empathetic disposition for otherness, they just don’t know any better. Leaders of those movements don’t have such excuses. Being fatly paid full-time to improve their knowledge on those issues, they either should know better and are being dishonest about it, or suffer from intellectual deficiency which, to that extent, is unlikely.

Beyond lying, individuals who take advantage of other humans’ weaknesses to enrich themselves leave negative impacts in their wake. Watson is no different.

Ecological Criminal

By helping to over-protect seals, Watson has also contributed to weakening the Gulf of St. Lawrence’s ecosystem in Eastern Canada. Since the debacle of the sealing industry, over-predation by these pinnipeds has had a huge negative impact on the marine biodiversity of the region. Hunters and fishermen predicted that much as early as the 1980s, but today, it is scientists who have no choice but to admit it. The grey seal population in Eastern Canada has grown from about 5,000 in the 1970s to 400,000 today. Multiply the population of any apex predator by 80 in any given ecosystem and, of course, you’re going to create havoc.

Yes, you’ve read that right; Captain Watson is also an ecological criminal.

Isn’t this the ultimate irony? Animalist groups have created the perfect loop: the more money you give them, the worse the environment becomes. And the worse the environment becomes, the more money people give them.

Of course, society needs people to take care of nature's biodiversity, but not just anybody. Ecosystems are complex, more so than, let’s say, air traffic control. Would you let someone without any proper training or credentials direct plane landings? Of course not. So why trust a fake captain with it? If we’re not happy with the way our ecosystems are being managed, we need to train those in charge better, not follow the first self-appointed guru.

There it is. The grand illusion. People who give support to these groups think they’re contributing to a better planet while doing exactly the opposite.

Now you know. The disappearance of Atlantic cod, yellowtail flounder, white hake and many other fish species does not bother the noble captain in the slightest.

It is not Watson who will go bankrupt; it is the evil fisherman in his 17-metre boat. Watson is not the one who will have nothing left to feed his children, since his fortune is assured. It is not his community that will decline since he now lives in France. Who cares about uncharismatic species that are not even good for a small fundraising activity? Biodiversity? Bah … who cares?

Not Arte’s hero captain, in any case.