Ex-officer who refused to kill cubs wants his job back

A former B.C. conservation officer who refused to kill two bear cubs is hoping the province will reinstate him as a special constable after a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Thursday, the high court dismissed an application by the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union to appeal a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling that found Bryce Casavant was improperly fired.

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case leaves the appeal court ruling in place.

“I'm hoping that the province and the union respect the rule of law and the decisions that have been made by the B.C. Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court of Canada,” Casavant said from Port Alberni.

“My position has always been that I should be reinstated. I've been very clear with the province on that.”

Casavant refused an emailed order from a superior to kill two bear cubs whose mother was killed after she entered a home in the Port Hardy area through an open door.

He took the eight-week-old cubs to a veterinarian, who assessed them and transferred the animals to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre.

At the time, Casavant said he was required to shoot the mother bear because she had entered a house.

He maintained he had discretion whether to kill or spare the cubs because there was no evidence they had been in the home or had become habituated to garbage.

Casavant was dismissed as a conservation officer and lost his security clearance.

He was transferred to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development as a forest investigator.

It was the beginning of a 51/2year legal battle over his termination.

B.C. conservation officers are appointed under the Police Act, he said, adding a constable must always have the ability to decide whether to shoot or not to shoot.

“The cubs are cute and fuzzy and cuddly. But more importantly, and ethics aside, there's no mechanism to order a constable to kill. That's really the core of the legal issue.”

The cubs, nicknamed Jordan and Athena, were released into the wild in the summer of 2016.

They were outfitted with radio collars and tracked for a winter until they hibernated and the collars fell off, as designed.

“As far as I know, they're still running around, although they'd be old bears now,” said Casavant.