B.C. reins in grizzly hunt to soften Site C blow

Horgan trying to avoid urban-rural schism, writes Mike Smyth.

VICTORIA One week after angering environmentalists by approving the Site C dam, B.C.’s NDP government gave them an early Christmas present on Monday with a surprise ban on grizzly-bear hunting.

The opposition Liberals don’t think it’s a coincidence.

“It’s clear the only reason for this sudden abandonment of a previous promise to allow a partial hunt is because the NDP is feeling political heat for approving Site C construction,” said Liberal critic John Rustad.

The “partial hunt” is the compromise policy announced by the government in the summer.

The government said in August it would ban “trophy hunting” of grizzly bears but still allow a “meat hunt,” meaning hunters could still bag a grizzly as long as they harvested the animal’s meat but not its head or hide.

Anti-hunting critics called it a loophole.

“A hunter could still take a photo with a dead bear,” Green party Leader Andrew Weaver pointed out.

“In the Instagram age, that’s the most sought-after trophy.”

The policy appeared to be a political nod by the NDP to the province’s rural heartland, where support for hunting is higher than in the cities.

The NDP was burned on the issue before. In 2001, during the dying days of the last NDP government, then-premier Ujjal Dosanjh announced a moratorium on grizzly hunting.

The move sparked an internal backlash in the party, with Interior MLA Harry Lali even quitting the cabinet in protest.

The NDP got wiped out in rural ridings in the subsequent election.

It seemed Premier John Horgan wanted to avoid another urban-rural schism this time and went with the

The government changed the goalposts. It reflects poorly on how we’re going to be doing business in B.C. JESSE ZEMEN, director, B.C. WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION

partial ban.

But now that’s changed dramatically and suddenly, with the announcement on Monday of a provincewide ban on all grizzly hunting, although First Nations will still be allowed to kill grizzlies for “food, social or ceremonial purposes or treaty rights.”

What changed?

The government pointed to its own consultation process that found 78 per cent of respondents wanted an outright ban.

But pro-hunting groups are furious, since the consultation was supposed to be about implementing the partial hunt, not bringing in a surprise total ban on grizzly hunting.

“We were told the hunt would move forward,” said Jesse Zemen, director the B.C. Wildlife Association, which represents resident B.C. hunters.

“The government changed the goalposts. It reflects poorly on how we’re going to be doing business in B.C.”

But in the business of politics, there are always winners and losers.

Environmentalists lost on the NDP’s Site C decision last week. This week, they’re celebrating a win on the grizzly hunt.

In the process, though, the NDP has alienated major B.C. hunting and guide-outfitting groups, which will no longer fully trust the government.