Province Explains Decision Surrounding Transferred BC Conservation Officer

The province has issued a statement regarding the removal of Conservation Officer Bryce Casavant and the fate of the two bear cubs.

Jamie Edwardson, spokesperson for the BC Public Service Agency, says that while he can’t comment on specific details of the case, he can confirm that “no employee involved in the case has been subjected to any discipline.”

“There was a thorough review of the situation conducted by the PSA and independent of the Conservation Officer Service,” stated Edwardson. “The findings of that review were presented to the employee’s senior management. The decision that resulted was to reassign the employee to an equivalent position within government, at no loss of salary or classification.”

Edwardson goes on to say that if the union decides to file a grievance following the removal of Casavant from his job, they will work to expedite the matter as quickly as possible.

Another statement was provided to KelownaNow by the Ministry of Forests regarding the welfare of the two cubs. According to the ministry, the cubs were approved as candidates for the orphaned bear cub rearing and release program. The decision was based on additional information received from the homeowner of the original property where the cubs were found. The homeowner told the ministry the cubs were “less or not conditioned to human food and presence than first reported.”

The cubs, which were found to be in good health, will be cared for until 2016 at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre. They will then be released back into the wild as yearlings. The release site will be determined at a later date, but will be as remote as possible, in good bear habitat, and away from human settlement to further reduce the risk of human contact.

Casavant was originally suspended in July when he determined that a pair of black bear cubs should not be killed near Port Hardy. Casavant was placed under review by the Ministry of Environment following his actions to not destroy the cubs after they were reported on someone’s property.

The bears, which were about eight weeks at the time, were sent to the North Island Wildfire Recovery Centre for care instead of being destroyed. The union plans to pursue the issue and will schedule an arbitration hearing as soon as possible.