Conservation Agent fired for refusing to shoot two bear cubs to get a job back

A Conservation officer who was fired for not killing animals is suing to get his job back.

Bryce Casavant was fired by the British Columbia Environment Ministry for refusing to shoot two orphaned bear cubs six years ago and has since tried to reinstate his badge.

On July 5, 2015, the Ministry received a complaint from a Vancouver Island resident about a bear and her two cubs, who were entering her property and stealing food from her outside freezer and rummaging through her trash.

Casavant was sent by his supervisor to sacrifice all three, on the basis that they had become accustomed to human food.

The policeman arrived at the scene and duly shot the mother, killing her. But when it came time to aim the gun at the puppies, he didn’t pull the trigger.

After talking to the owner of the house, he discovered that only the mother had actually been seen eating the garbage; so he decided that killing them would be against the ministry’s policy and spared them.

Instead, he took the pair, who were about two months old and “the size of two small dogs,” to a veterinarian.

The brothers, later called Jordan and Athena, were successfully rehabilitated and finally returned to nature.

But while their story ended happily, Casavant’s did not: the following day, his supervising officer filed a complaint against him for refusing to follow orders. He was suspended pending an investigation for negligence in duty, and was eventually dismissed. (He was transferred to a different role in the Ministry with the same pay and location; however, he was stripped of his status as Special Provincial Constable, which is technically designated as resignation).

For five years, Casavant fought the decision in the courts; as the Toronto Star reported, he argued that, as a special police officer, his decision to fire the gun was up to him.

Finally, on June 4, 2020, the Court of Appeals ended up on his side and officially annulled the resignation.

After crying in relief for 15 minutes, he said to Star: “So I basically said, ‘Great, now that all of this is behind us, until Monday!'”

But there was no work for him: “Please be warned … that there is no position for Mr. Casavant at the (Conservation Officer Service) for him to report on Monday,” the government said in an e-mail seen for publication.

Casavant is now suing to get his job back – and wants five years of $ 55,000 – $ 75,000 in pay to pay as well.