B.C. Supreme Court rules provincial wolf cull can continue

Contractors hired by the B.C. government have killed hundreds of wolves annually since 2015 as part of a program to help conserve threatened caribou herds.

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled against an environmental group seeking to overturn the province’s controversial wolf cull program.

Contractors hired by the B.C. government have killed hundreds of wolves annually since 2015, as part of a program to help conserve threatened caribou herds.

In most cases, the wolves are shot from helicopters.

Environmental group the Pacific Wild Alliance filed a judicial review of the program in 2020, arguing that the province gave regional wildlife managers too much authority with too little direction in awarding permits to cull the wolves.

The group also argued that the program was illegal because it clashed with federal aviation regulations that ban the use of firearms from aircraft.

In a June 6 ruling, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Giaschi found that while Pacific Wild did have standing to argue the case, it failed to prove the province’s program was unlawful.

The sporadic and situation-specific nature of where and when culls occur, he ruled, justified the wide latitude given to managers in issuing the permits.

“Cabinet cannot prescribe by regulation the species subject to aerial culling as this will depend on the wildlife issue that has arisen. Similarly, Cabinet cannot be expected to prescribe by regulation the geographical area of the hunt as this will depend on where in the province the issue has arisen,” he ruled.