Conservation

Arranging meeting between an individual and a public office holder for purpose of lobbying

Development, establishment, amendment or termination of any program, policy or decision

Introduction, modification or repeal of legislation, a bill or regulation

The GOABC is supportive to ending the ¿trophy hunt¿ and believes this can be achieved with grizzly bear meat retrieval. We have been advocating for this regulation change for several years. This would make the regulation consistent with black bears (and the other big game species). We are very worried about a regulation that would require hunters to waste part(s) of a legally harvested animal.

Target Contacts

Conservation

Arranging meeting between an individual and a public office holder for purpose of lobbying

Decision of cabinet to transfer interest in a government enterprise or privatize services

Development, establishment, amendment or termination of any program, policy or decision

Introduction, modification or repeal of legislation, a bill or regulation

We seek to encourage the proper stewardship of wildlife for all stakeholders in BC by providing input on regulation and allocation decisions. Science and law should act as a guide to wildlife management and allocation decisions. We seek to ensure guide outfitters are recognized in this process, and emphasize the positive role that hunting plays conservation. We provide input on the Allocation Policy to ensure conservation, fairness and industry viability. The primary piece of legislation managing our industry is the Wildlife Act. We advocate for changes to the Wildlife Act that affect guide outfitting businesses throughout the province. These changes will strengthen our tenures and promote industry growth. Many of these changes will help reduce "red tape" for our industry. We seek to provide input in land use decisions for the purposes of ensuring business certainty. This includes decisions under the Land Act, Parks Act, Adventure Tourism Policy and First Nations land use decisions. Our methods include letters, dinners, press releases, events, informational papers, meetings, phone calls and attendance of key government events.

Target Contacts

Tourism

Arranging meeting between an individual and a public office holder for purpose of lobbying

Development, establishment, amendment or termination of any program, policy or decision

The 2017 wildfires were the worst in British Columbia¿s history and had a significant effect on many rural businesses. This includes the outfitting community who are still being impacted by backcountry closures in the Kamloops and Chilcotin regions. As a result, many outfitters have cancelled hunting and fishing trips causing deposits to be returned. The state of emergency and related news coverage also caused many other tourists not to travel to British Columbia even though their vacation was outside the specific fire zones. As you know, our industry has a short window to generate revenue. We are different from most other resource sectors because outfitters are tied to a specific territory and cannot delay their clients to later in the year. The Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia appreciates the Red Cross and other organizations that have developed programs to provide financial assistance to businesses but they are insufficient. We saw the announcement from the Agriculture Minister regarding compensation to farmers and ranchers. We are asking the provincial government to provide financial assistant to those outfitters who lost revenue from the wildfires, reimbursement for tags and licences, and other related businesses expenses. The GOABC is happy to help develop criteria and/or administrate the funds to help these businesses cope with the loss in revenue.

Target Contacts