Since most of the blackbirds are not protected by the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act (a holdover from the original 1918 Act that left bird species 'deleterious to human interests' off the protected list and remaining under provincial jurisdiction - also included crows, jays, kingfishers, hawks, owls, falcons , cormorants and a few others) there are still some provinces that allow for the shooting of grackles, red-winged blackbirds, cowbirds, etc. especially when they are reputed to be causing damage to crops. Varies by province. NB used to include them under the 'varmint' license but that was 30+ years ago. Might well be illegal now!