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JEFF HARDER: Snobelen and Nugent could have been blood brothers

 Warning: don't believe there is an ounce of animosity between Ted Nugent and John Snobelen.

 Sure, the Michigan-based Rock star is at odds with Ontario's natural resources minister over the permanent cancellation of the spring bear hunt. But, these two men are more like kindred spirits than enemies.

 They are both smart in spite of never setting foot in a university or college, they are both outdoor enthusiasts, they are both philosophers, they both love music and they are both individualists. Both men share the same fashion statements: Nugent has been pictured in a loin cloth while Snobelen's most famous photo caught him in the swimsuit equivalent, a Speedo. And lastly, they are both politicians. Snobelen is a member of the provincial parliament advocating on behalf of Conservative voters and Nugent is a politician advocating on behalf of his United Sportsmen of America (www.thewild.com).

The unfortunate difference between the two men is that Snobelen has to contain and even mask his individualism while Nugent capitalizes on his.

 "I may not have gone to college but that's because I was too busy learning things," Nugent told CANOE. "I have hunted, fished and trapped my entire 50 years. I have cherished the quality human connections I have made and cultivated with my Canadian friends. I call them my blood brothers. For over 40 years, my family (Nugent's a grandpa) and friends have come up to Canada to hunt and fish and just experience the glorious wild that is God's country, Canada."

 You can hear the sincerity in his voice. The government should have been recruiting Nugent as a spokesman for Ontario rather than alienating him. By ending the hunt without any sound statistical or scientific argument, they have enraged Nugent and his followers while cutting the legs out from under northern Ontario's outfitting business. Nugent supports "proper policy based on science and reality, not based on somebody who wants to force tofu up our ass and call living creatures Bambi."

 So, the aging rocker has turned on the province and is boycotting it as a place to hunt, tour and spend money.

 "If you think we are going to support this anywhere you can kiss my ass," he said.

 "We are dead serious about this. We are going to shut those bastards down. And I don't mean the good, hard-working people of Canada. I mean the punks, the bureaucrats like Snobelen and Mike Harris."

 While Snobelen and Harris dismiss Nugent, making glib remarks about his "eight tracks" and musical talent, they are miscalculating the man's influence. As any good hunter will tell you, it's terribly unwise to under-estimate the opposition. Ontario outfitters have already felt the impact. Americans are cancelling fall hunts and taking their coveted Yankee dollars elsewhere.

 "My office here has been avalanched, inundated with e-mail and faxes and phone calls and letters and people stopping by from all across Ontario saying, 'Ted, You gotta help us, man. Nobody gives a shit about what we think or say. We have no voice.' I'm sending a message to the politicians in America, if you think we are going to go over there and support this kind of insult, you got another thing coming. It's over."

 Nugent doesn't lie. His albums and songs are a testament to that. The Tories should have taken heed to one of them, I Shoot Back.

 Cash flying out of province

 Intentionally or not, Ontario MPPs are reinforcing Nugent's boycott by taking their tourism dollars outside the province.

 Sure, Trade and Tourism Minister Al Palladini is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars promoting Ontario as a winter travel destination, but even his own colleagues aren't buying it.

 If they weren't booked on taxpayer-funded junkets in January, they had pencilled in some personal rest and relaxation in anticipation of an exhausting spring election campaign.

 Let's start with the guys who didn't pay for their own foreign travels. Palladini jetted to Germany, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates in the name of job creation. It's Palladini's second visit to Europe in less than six months. Taxpayers sent him to his native Italy late last year.

 Then, there's Olympics Commissioner Morley Kells and his executive assistant Bob McAllister, who logged two weeks in Australia to "study" that country's Summer Games organization. Since Morley and Bob might as well go by the names Fun and Games, this is the perfect assignment for them. (Yes, I'm envious).

 Premier Mike Harris and Long Term Care Minister Cam Jackson hooked up in Tampa, Florida to make a health care announcement at the annual Snowbirds Extravaganza. It was a business-mixed-with-pleasure trip as both men were already in the Sunshine State vacationing with their families.

 Harris could have held a caucus meeting down there. Besides Jackson, Florida was the destination of choice for Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve, former speaker Al McLean and MPPs Gary Stewart and Gary Leadston.

 Nugent 1, Palladini 0.