Casavant v British Columbia, BCCA 159, was a landmark environmental legal case heard at the British Columbia Court of Appeal in 2020. A unanimous court allowed the appeal.[1]

In July 2015, a BC Conservation Officer, Bryce Casavant, received an order to kill two bear cubs in a remote location on Vancouver Island, off the coast of BC. The Conservation Officer declined the kill order. The bear cubs were not killed. The bear cubs were instead transferred to a veterinarian facility and then placed in a rehabilitation facility where they were later released into the wilds of British Columbia. The officer was dismissed from his position as a Conservation Officer. In BC, Conservation Officers are also special constables with unlimited police powers.[2] He was instead given a position in a different ministry with the same pay, but without Special Provincial Constable designation.

The situation sparked worldwide outrage and was covered nationally within Canada and internationally around the world.[3][4][5]

The case was heard before a labour arbitrator and then a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, who did not side with Officer Casavant.[6] The BC Court of Appeal overruled the BC Supreme Court, stating that labour arbitrators have no jurisdiction in police discipline matters. All previous decisions against the officer were declared a "nullity" by the high court.[7]

A subsequent attempt to have the matter reopened was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.[8]

References

  1. ↑ BCCA 159, CA46376. "Casavant v British Columbia". Canadian Legal Institute. CanLii. Retrieved 11 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Strategy, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. "About the Conservation Officer Service - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  3. ↑ MacDonald, Nancy (23 October 2021). "How sparing two bear cubs' lives sparked a global debate". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Cecco, leyland (11 June 2020). "Canadian conservation officer fired for refusing to kill bear cubs wins legal battle". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Mitchel, Charlie (16 June 2020). "Bryce Casavant: Canadian officer sacked for saving bear cubs wins case". The London Times. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ↑ BCSC 1422, S14215 (23 August 2019). "Casavant v. British Columbia (Labour Relations Board)". CanLii. Retrieved 11 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Chiu, Joanna (2 March 2021). "This conservation officer who refused to kill two baby bears won a long legal battle — but the government still won't let him go back to work". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  8. ↑ Canada, Supreme Court of (2001-01-01). "Supreme Court of Canada - SCC Case Information - Search". decisions.scc-csc.ca. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
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