Bigfoot risks extinction, says Canadian MP

[Porterboy]

It's not. Find an already dead one. With the number of sightings claimed there should be dead bodies littering the landscape.

I hope someone does find a dead one. I know you lot are kidding when you talk about Bigfoot barbecue, but there are some people willing to kill a living creature wantonly. It would be bad enough if it was just to satisfy their curiosity, but some will do it for the money. If Bigfoot exists then it is quite clearly a primate and may have a high level of intilligence and developed emotions.

I'd rather it remained undiscovered forever than be deliberately killed.

 

[Skeptic Guy]

"The only good Bigfoot is a dead Bigfoot!"
- Mr. Horace Bighands, Bigfoot's neighbor

Hey, that's my quote and I will thank Mr. Bighands to unhand it!

I hope someone does find a dead one. I know you lot are kidding when you talk about Bigfoot barbecue, but there are some people willing to kill a living creature wantonly. It would be bad enough if it was just to satisfy their curiosity, but some will do it for the money. If Bigfoot exists then it is quite clearly a primate and may have a high level of intilligence and developed emotions.

I'd rather it remained undiscovered forever than be deliberately killed.

I'm not too sure I was kidding about shooting it, it would certainly prove it's existence. But I don't think that there are too many people that are too worried about it actually existing. They are supposed to be primates after all, humanoids, social animals. Mortal. I mean come on.

 

[Tumblehome]

C'mon people, this is hype, pure and simple...

For the con artist, it's hype. For the politician, it's just sad.

 

[osmosis]

Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 03-MAY-2007

OTTAWA – Recently, there have been misleading stories from various media sources regarding a petition presented in the House of Commons to recognize Bigfoot as a protected species.

On March 28, 2007, Mike Lake, MP for Edmonton – Mill Woods – Beaumont tabled in the House of Commons a petition brought forward by one of his constituents. This constituent had collected signatures from a few hundred individuals, the vast majority of whom reside outside Mr. Lake’s constituency. The petition was deemed by the House of Commons’ Clerk of Petitions to be in order.

"I take seriously my responsibility to represent allof my constituents, regardless of whether or not I agree with their views. If a legitimate petition is brought forward by one of my constituents and deemed to be in order, I feel it is my duty to table it in the House.”

At no time did Mr. Lake speak in the House of Commons regarding the petition. At no point has Mr. Lake indicated his support for this petition.


-30-

Media Contact:
Monica Sabo
Special Assistant to Mike Lake, MP
613.995.8695 or 613.325.6178
=======================================

Well, here's what his damage control agent had to say about it.

 

[Porterboy]

Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 03-MAY-2007

OTTAWA – Recently, there have been misleading stories from various media sources regarding a petition presented in the House of Commons to recognize Bigfoot as a protected species.

On March 28, 2007, Mike Lake, MP for Edmonton – Mill Woods – Beaumont tabled in the House of Commons a petition brought forward by one of his constituents. This constituent had collected signatures from a few hundred individuals, the vast majority of whom reside outside Mr. Lake’s constituency. The petition was deemed by the House of Commons’ Clerk of Petitions to be in order.

"I take seriously my responsibility to represent allof my constituents, regardless of whether or not I agree with their views. If a legitimate petition is brought forward by one of my constituents and deemed to be in order, I feel it is my duty to table it in the House.”

At no time did Mr. Lake speak in the House of Commons regarding the petition. At no point has Mr. Lake indicated his support for this petition.


-30-

Media Contact:
Monica Sabo
Special Assistant to Mike Lake, MP
613.995.8695 or 613.325.6178
=======================================

Well, here's what his damage control agent had to say about it.

So was Lake not the source of the motion? Maybe he was just doing his democratic duty and representing his constituents.

I wonder who the actual person was who came up with the idea.

This raises an interesting question. May I ask a question: If you guys were elected to Parliament and were asked to table a motion you thought was crazy and Woo-par excellance, would you do it?

 

[tube]

I wonder who the actual person was who came up with the idea.

Why would you think it would be anyone but this guy Standing??????

 

[Skeptic Guy]

So was Lake not the source of the motion? Maybe he was just doing his democratic duty and representing his constituents.

I wonder who the actual person was who came up with the idea.

This raises an interesting question. May I ask a question: If you guys were elected to Parliament and were asked to table a motion you thought was crazy and Woo-par excellance, would you do it?

If I'm reading between the lines correctly, there were only a couple a hundred signers of the petition and most of those from outside my district, I would probably say "no".

At the very least, I would set-up a town hall type meeting to try to discuss it and explain why it wasn't such a hot idea.

 

[Slimething]

If you guys were elected to Parliament and were asked to table a motion you thought was crazy and Woo-par excellance, would you do it?

No. A representative in a republican government looks after his constituency's interests, not their dysfunctions.

 

[tsg]

If you guys were elected to Parliament and were asked to table a motion you thought was crazy and Woo-par excellance, would you do it?

Ideal answer: no.

Real answer: how big is my risk of not getting re-elected if I do and if I don't?

 

[Explorer]

We must ensure that Bigfoot does not become extinct for a second time!

 

[Tumblehome]

A representative in a republican government looks after his constituency's interests, not their dysfunctions.

Perfectly said. But if it really worked that way, the MP wouldn't treat the petition seriously, and George Bush woulnd't be encouraging fundamental Christianity.

 

[D'rok]

No. A representative in a republican government looks after his constituency's interests, not their dysfunctions.

Canada does not have republican government

Ideal answer: no.

Real answer: how big is my risk of not getting re-elected if I do and if I don't?

Now that is more like the actual political calculus of a backbencher.

 

[Solus]

Forget bigfoot that's an ugly old animal. I say unicorns should be put on the endangered species list! I don't know if a fairy is an animal but that should be on it too and also don't forget leprechauns.

 

[VulcanWay]

Surely there's already some sort of law in place to protect newly discovered species until it can be determined how many of them there are?

I think that this is the cruxt of the issue. Prove to me that Bigfoot qualify for "endangered" status. For all we know (Devil's Advocate) there may be thousands...

 

[kitakaze]

For all we know (Devil's Advocate) there may be thousands...

That's funny, that's just what proponents say. They find themselves fumbling around with 'the data' trying to come up with a number that feels right and accounts for the lack of identification while still allowing for a viable breeding population and the pan-continental nature of reports. If you want to illustrate the lack of cohesive concepts among bigfoot proponents forget the leprechaun, unicorn, Santa, etc references and just say, "Iowa, 35 reports." And that's just from the BFRO.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hmmm....no hunting pressure, no competition, plenty of food, plenty of land, a viable population, no sign that any have ever died...

Why are they going extinct again?

 

[Correa Neto]

Because people are starting not to believe...

 

[Tumblehome]

Because people are starting not to believe...

More like, "because con artists see a way to make some easy money".

 

[Quinn]

Bigfoot may have never been discovered with any credible proof, but it's such a big part of folklore and mass consciousness that I think it's fair to treat it as having real potential existance, even if it doesn't have any physical existance. And, yes, I would say the same to all sorts of other kinds of meta-creatures like fairies, leprachauns, dragons etc.

So let me see if I've got this straight: are you actually suggesting that if enough people believe that something exists -- no matter how demonstrably ill-founded those beliefs are, and no matter how ignorant and superstitious the people are, and no matter how conclusively we can trace the origins of those beliefs back to a time when the entire human population was largely ignorant and superstitious and demonstrably wrong in most of their beliefs -- then despite all that, we should still not only hold open the possibility that said thing might be real, but even go so far as to make actual decisions that will tangibly effect how people and institutions go about their business, based on that possibility? Furthermore, are you seriously making this suggestion on a skeptic forum, with a straight face and no discernible hint of irony?

If the answer is yes, then what is the qualification for a belief to merit this consideration? On a planet of six billion people, how many do I have to convince (without any actual evidence, of course) that my pet talking pencil eraser is real, before it becomes "a part of folklore and mass consciousness," and therefore worthy of being treated as "having real potential existence"?

 

[Tumblehome]

I think that this is the cruxt of the issue. Prove to me that Bigfoot qualify for "endangered" status. For all we know (Devil's Advocate) there may be thousands...

Actually, the real crux of the issue is something so obvious that I'm surprised no one, including me , didn't pick up on it before. Bigfoot is not a species. There's absolutely no data to categorize it taxonomically, so there's no way it can be officially protected as an endangered species. Todd Standing doesn't have a leg to stand on, and the MP has accepted and tabled in parliament a petition that is self-defeating.

The record of procedings in the House of Commons for March 28 show that shortly after the session began that day at 2 p.m., several MP's tabled petitions from their constituents after announcing them to the house. It wasn't till the end of the day's procedings, just before 10 p.m., that MP Mike Lake submitted his petition directly to the table without announcing it, which is allowable. Then he crept out sheepishly into the night with his tail between his legs (no, it doesn't say that, just a good guess).