The IFAW was well known for their emotional plea to stop the Newfoundland Seal Hunt. They pioneered the use of a sad-eyed baby seal and film of Newfoundlanders clubbing the seals to death. In spite of the fact the white-coated baby seal with the sad eyes had never been a part of the seal hunt, the proven emotional power of the picture was well understood by the IFAW masterminds. They agreed to accept the challenge of shutting down the Ontario bear hunt.

Sinclair and the IFAW decided the best approach was to threaten the Conservatives with a loss in the ballot box in the next election. They chose the affluent Hamilton-Niagara "Golden Triangle" as being ripe to be plucked. They knew the people in that area were well educated and urban and really didn't know anything at all about bears or hunting.

The committee came up with the idea of distributing 15,000 videos that depicted sad, lonely bear cubs that had been orphaned by hunters who had shot their mothers, unethical baiting and, of course, the cruel use of dogs. One scene in the video, which was shot in the USA, showed a bear being shot out of a tree and ripped to pieces by the hunters' dogs.

The issue made a powerful impact, particularly on women, who reacted with pity to the baby bears.

The campaign ran through the fall of 1998 and was often brought up in caucus by December. Polls showed the Conservatives behind the Liberals in public opinion. Backbenchers pleaded with Mike Harris the premier to do something as they worried they would be toppled by the IFAW's campaign.

Since urban non-hunters, who really didn't understand the situation but had been convinced the north was littered with orphaned cubs, represented many more votes than pro-hunting organizations, or northern residents, the premier reached the conclusion the spring hunt could not be defended.

Early in January, Shad met Harris - at the premier's invitation - in a small terminal for private aircraft at Toronto's Pearson Airport. Schad later told reporters he explained why he was opposed to the hunt and the premier agreed with him. Schad claimed the premier said, "I think you're right… we'll do something." On Jan 15, 1999, the Minister of Natural Resources, John Snobelen, without any consultation with government biologists who knew the hunt was sustainable and the claims of orphaned bear cubs were false, announced that the spring hunt was cancelled.

The hew and cry that resulted from the cancellation fell on deaf ears and outfitters who had already accepted deposits for the spring hunt, mostly from American hunters, were forced to return thousands of dollars. It was estimated that the immediate result of the cancellation of the hunt cost northern Ontario communities about $44 Million in the first year. A recent unofficial poll by the National Firearms Association shows that 1 in 5 outfitters (20%) have disappeared since the hunt was cancelled.