A former B.C. conservation officer害羞草研究所檚 appeal to be reinstated nearly eight years after being dismissed for refusing to euthanize two bear cubs has been denied, with the judge telling the parties to 害羞草研究所渂ear their own costs.害羞草研究所�

B.C. Court of Appeals Justice J. Christopher Grauer released his decision Tuesday (Aug. 8), dismissing Bryce Casavant害羞草研究所檚 appeal of a 2022 B.C. Supreme Court decision.

In 2022, Casavant petitioned the B.C. Supreme Court to declare: that his dismissal as a conservation officer and special provincial constable as unlawful; that his designation as a member of the service, beginning on Dec. 11, 2013, remains valid and in full force and effect; and to order that a settlement agreement was void, among other orders.

Grauer said that Casavant was part of a settlement agreement, and the Supreme Court judge didn害羞草研究所檛 err in finding that it was 害羞草研究所渋mpracticable to unwind the settlement agreement to restore the parties to a position from which they had long moved on.害羞草研究所�

Casavant told Black Press Media Wednesday the decision was very disappointing, adding that he and his counsel, Arden Beddoes, are looking at the possibility of appealing the decision with the Supreme Court of Canada.

害羞草研究所淣evertheless, I respect the decision of the court.害羞草研究所�

Beddoes said they害羞草研究所檙e reviewing the decision very carefully, along with their next steps. They have 60 days from the decision to seek leave to appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada.

The case dates back to 2015 when Casavant, a former special provincial constable with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service on northern Vancouver Island, defied orders, refusing to kill two bear cubs after euthanizing their mother. The mother was eating food from an outdoor freezer in Port Hardy, but Casavant believed the cubs hadn害羞草研究所檛 been eating the human food. The bears, later named Jordan and Athena, before ultimately being released back into the wild.

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His employers did not support his decision, and he was suspended first without pay on July 6, 2015 and then with pay on July 8. On Aug. 25, 2015, he was dismissed from his position, but as a member of the B.C. Government and Services Employees害羞草研究所� Union he was tranferred to another role as a natural resource officer within the Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resource Operations.

Casavant challenged the dismissal, with his union filing grievances on his behalf under the collective agreement and on Feb. 19, 2016 it was resolved with Casavant, his employer and the union signing a settlement agreement.

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In 2020, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the legal process was flawed and that Casavant害羞草研究所檚 dismissal should be nullified since it should have been dealt with through the Police Act. However the appeals court said that since the agreement had happened about four years earlier, it would 害羞草研究所渓eave the parties to sort out the consequences of those declarations, if any, on the settlement agreement害羞草研究所�

They were unable to sort it out, and that害羞草研究所檚 when Casavant filed the B.C. Supreme Court petition.

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After being dismissed from the BC Conservation Officer Service, Casavant worked for the Ministry of Forests and tried his hand at politics, running in the 2017 provincial election as the NDP candidate in the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding, which was won by the Green Party害羞草研究所檚 Andrew Weaver. After being dismissed from the BC Conservation Officer Service, Casavant worked for the Ministry of Forests and tried his hand at politics, running in the 2017 provincial election as the NDP candidate in the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding, which was won by the Green Party害羞草研究所檚 Andrew Weaver. He then worked for Pacific Wild as a conservation policy analyst.

Casavant also graduated from Royal Roads University with a Ph.D in social sciences. His dissertation was released June 5, 2020, one day after the court decision clearing him of wrongdoing. Titled 害羞草研究所淚n Search of a Wild Peace,害羞草研究所� it examines the relationship between wildlife and the BC Conservation Officer Service害羞草研究所檚 use of lethal force.

害羞草研究所� With files from Tyson Whitney, Susie Quinn

lauren.collins@blackpress.ca
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