LORNE DOERKSON: This is not about reform… this is about overpowering citizens and bypassing existing standards

Did you know? More than 5,000 hunters visit BC each year, generating approximately $116 million in annual revenue.

The guide outfitting industry is a major part of our economy here in Cariboo-Chilcotin, providing 2,000 jobs.

This week in the Legislature, I had to immediately speak out against the NDP government’s Bill 14 – the Renewable Energy Projects (Streamlined Permitting) Act.

On the surface, this bill appears to simply accelerate the permitting of projects like wind-farms in our province. 

Of course, “streamlining” and “cutting red tape” always sound nice. But the claws of this legislation dig much deeper.

Under Bill 14, guide outfitter, hunting, angling, and other Wildlife Act licenses can be suspended or cancelled indefinitely, without any chance for a hearing, appeal, or compensation. 

Let’s imagine that you operate a small guide outfitter business in the Cariboo, and that is how you earn your income and support your family. You consider yourself a steward of the land, and are helping control animal populations in our region. But one day, the NDP government decides that a few new wind turbines will be descended upon the part of land that you guide in. Instantaneously, your license is revoked. There is no appeal process for you, and no compromise. You can never again step on the lands that you stewarded for years or decades.

Thousands of jobs and family-owned businesses across BC – and especially in Cariboo-Chilcotin – depend on these licenses. The NDP government's refusal to specify limits or protections is creating immense uncertainty.

Bill 14 is creating the same uncertainty for cattle ranchers with grazing leases. Additionally, the legislation permits the BC Energy Regulator to revoke heritage designation from heritage sites and remove land from the ALR.

If the NDP government wanted to reform the environmental assessment process to make it more efficient, then that would be a different story. But this is not about reform… this is about overpowering citizens and bypassing existing standards. Bill 14 displays a lack of care for our lands, water systems, and wildlife. And it displays a lack of care for people – for cattle ranchers, guide outfitters, and others who make their living in rural or back-country settings.

My Conservative Party of BC colleagues and I are calling on the provincial government to amend Bill 14 immediately, ensuring protections for licensed hunters, anglers, and guide outfitters, and providing clear guidelines to prevent government overreach.