Province wants conservation officer ousted from service for saving baby bears

VANCOUVER – A conservation officer who defied his bosses and refused to euthanize two orphaned bear cubs is being pushed out of his job, but he's not being fired.

A release from the BC Government and Service Employees Union, which represents provincial government workers, says Bryce Casavant has been told he will be transferred out of the Conservation Officer Service as a disciplinary measure.

BCGEU president Stephanie Smith says the union is filing a grievance against the transfer, in addition to the grievance already filed over Casavant's original suspension in July.

The union intends to take both issues to arbitration, although a hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Casavant won the hearts of animal-lovers, but ran afoul of senior officials in the conservation service, when he ignored orders to shoot two very young cubs after their mother was destroyed for repeatedly raiding homes near Port Hardy, B.C.

Instead, Casavant sent the two cubs to a wildlife refuge to have them assessed for rehabilitation, actions his union says represent the highest ideals of the Conservation Officer Service, whose motto is Integrity, Service and Protection.