Guide outfitting company launches class-action suit against B.C. ban on grizzly bear hunt
Seeks compensation for all guide outfitting businesses in the province in light of NDP government December, 2017, ban on the hunt
Gordon McIntyre
Updated: December 19, 2018
A class-action lawsuit has been launched against the provincial government over its year-old ban on hunting grizzly bears in B.C.
The suit alleges the government’s decision was made for inappropriate reasons, did not take proper wildlife management practices into account, and was reached knowing that it would cause harm to the province’s 245 guide outfitters.
“There is a right way and a wrong way the government can do things,” said Vancouver lawyer Joan Young, who filed the suit on behalf of Hazelton guide outfitter Ron Fleming. “Our position is the government is not going about this the right way.
“They pulled the rug out from under outfitters, there was no consultation, this was not a science-based decision, or done for First Nations reasons. It was done for other reasons.
“In our view, that is not appropriate and not legally well-thought out.”
Fleming has been a licensed big-game hunting guide for 45 years and owns the Hazelton outfitter company Love Bros. & Lee.
“To suggest we can just retrain to other businesses or move to the city is absurd and disrespectful of rural communities,” he said.
The Iskut and Tahltan First Nations joined Fleming in criticizing the ban, calling it irresponsible, counterproductive and dangerous.
“The grizzly bear hunting-ban decision by the province was made without adequate consultation with the Tahltan Nation, other First Nations and many other important stakeholders,” said Chad Norman Day, president of the Tahltan central government in Dease Lake. “It has hurt our people culturally, economically and put many of British Columbia’s communities and dwindling ungulate and salmon populations at further risk.”
Jesse Zeman, director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation’s fish and wildlife restoration program, agreed there is “clearly not a science basis” for the ban.
The ban will mean more prey animals such as moose will die, he said.
“And we think, as time moves on, you’ll see an increase in grizzly-human conflicts.”
According to the lawsuit, 118 of the province’s approximately 245 guide outfitters held allocations and quotas for guiding grizzly hunts as of Dec. 17, 2017. On average, about 250 grizzlies a year were killed.
“Guide outfitters have been hit very hard by this decision,” said Scott Ellis, executive director of the Guide outfitters Association of B.C. “If the government is not prepared to fairly compensate these outfitters, they are left with little other choice.”
According to the lawsuit, guide outfitters have been active in B.C. since the late 1800s, directly employ 2,000 people, and add more than $116 million to the provincial economy.
All non-resident bear hunters must use a guide outfitter (B.C. residents may opt not to) and a fee upwards of $25,000 US is not uncommon, according to the suit. That fee is paid whether a hunt is successful or not, and grizzly hunts are among the most profitable for guide outfitters.
About a quarter of all North American grizzly bears live in B.C., roughly 15,000 of them, a population the province estimates has been stable for two decades, the suit states.
“Other than a short-lived ban in 2001, grizzly bears have been hunted in British Columbia for hundreds, if not thousands, of years,” it reads. “There was an average of 212 guided grizzly bear hunts each year from 2011 to 2015 in British Columbia. … Historically, resident and non-resident hunters harvest less than two per cent of the B.C. grizzly bear population each year.”
The Wildlife Act allows for the hunting of a variety of big game, including bison, black bear, bobcat, caribou, cougar, deer, elk, lynx, moose, mountain goat, mountain sheep, wolf and wolverine.
The suit claims the minister responsible does not have the legal authority under the Wildlife Act to prohibit the hunting of a specific species, or to regulate or prohibit the grizzly bear hunt for political reasons or because of popular opinion.
It says outfitters were promised allocations and quotas would only be changed for wildlife management reasons such as population change.
In Fleming’s case, he was issued a 25-year guide’s certificate for specific territory in 2013, receiving five-year allocations and quotas for grizzlies, among other big-game animals: Two grizzly bears in a five-year period in the Skeenas, 11 grizzlies in five years in the Ominecas.
The minister in charge, Doug Donaldson, is also named in the suit.
Donaldson told Postmedia by email that the decision to implement the ban was made after months of consultation.
“As part of the announcement, the government committed to work with businesses to assist in their transition away from dependence on the grizzly hunts,” he said. “At this time, it would not be appropriate to comment on the legal claim.”
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/guide-outfitting-company-launches-class-action-suit-against-b-c-ban-on-grizzly-bear-hunt
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It is my belief that the NDEEPS will have no problem settling this rather quickly with our tax dollars.
I do not for a second believe the hunt will be reinstated however.
And what all this means for the Resident Hunters I cannot even fathom a guess...
Certainly will be pulling for them regardless...
Cheers,
Nog
