The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) released a statement regarding Icehutrentals.ca and its ownership:
The MNRF have "requested the company and its owner stop falsely identifying with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and its officials. And to be clear, any statements made on by or on behalf of the company do not reflect the views of the ministry. The ministry expects the company to follow our direction and take action as required. We will continue monitoring the situation and will follow up on any new information as appropriate."
The ice hut rentals company's phone is no longer in service, the Facebook pages have been wiped clean, yet citizens continue to post screenshots of the racist ramblings posted to various social media sites by Icehutrentals.ca owner Marc David Hyndman (aka Rochefort).
The company website is still operational, and found there is a post from Hyndman in which he refers to himself as the "Incoming Honorable Minister of Natural Resources."
The "Please no status card users," passage in a Kijiji advertisement for the company's ice huts stirred up the controversy, although it has since come to light that Hyndman's bizarre, fishing-related ramblings dating back months have frequently used disparaging racial epithets bordering on hate speech.
Kijiji.ca, in reference to the controversial post, and in correspondence with BayToday, stated that: “Kijiji provides a safe and respectful experience for users and prohibits the posting of ads that are offensive. This ad has been removed.”
Even a company sorry-not-sorry apology posted to Facebook and captured on video by CogecoTV's Greg Estabrooks (see photo above) did not stop the social media outcry. Comments flooded message boards on news sites and Facebook that Hyndman and his company had been operating illegally for years.
To wit, Jolanta Kowalski, a senior media relations officer with the MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) advises that "the ministry is taking this situation very seriously."
The Fish and Wildlife Act Conservation Act contains guidelines for commercial ice fishing huts on Ontario waterways, including Lake Nipissing. Each hut must display a set of numbers unique to its licence, and failure to do so can result in MNRF charges and prosecution.
Despite the advertisements that shed light on their practices, the MNRF has no "information at this time to suggest the company is operating a commercial ice fishing business on Lake Nipissing. We have contacted the company to reiterate the requirement for a commercial licence to place ice fishing huts on Lake Nipissing."
Kowalski communicated that there is no record that Icehutrentals.ca has ever even had the required licence and "does not have the approval to place commercial ice fishing huts on the lake," adding that "there has been a moratorium on commercial ice hut licences on the lake for some time."
Hyndman also called out Nipissing First Nations Chief Scott McLeod later in the week for a debate on netting in Lake Nipissing, while continuing to post to his personal and company Facebook accounts for several days while the controversy swirled.
Efforts to reach the company and its owners late in the week for comment on this story were unsuccessful as of publication time.
The MNRF statement also distanced the department from Hyndman's vitriol: "The Government of Ontario is committed to continuing to work with Indigenous partners as part of our process towards reconciliation. We value our partnerships with Indigenous partners and would not want the views of a single individual to stand in the way of these relationships."
