Report slams province for freeing up forests

VICTORIA -- Armed with just a wafer-thin sheaf of briefing notes, then-forests minister Rich Coleman signed an order last year effectively improving Western Forest Products' bottom line by about $150-million.

That was a feeble effort to measure whether giving up controls over valuable waterfront timberlands was in the public interest, B.C.'s Auditor-General concluded yesterday.

The contentious decision freed up 28,000 hectares of the struggling forest company's timberlands on southern Vancouver Island for real estate development.

At a news conference yesterday, John Doyle released a 73-page report damning Mr. Coleman's failure to consult with the public and local government, and described the minister's analysis of the potential impacts as flimsy.

"I would have expected to see the documentation that supported the decision to be beyond reproach," Mr. Doyle told reporters. "We found it inadequate."

Mr. Coleman did not return calls yesterday but Pat Bell, the new Forests Minister, rejected the findings and complained bitterly about Mr. Doyle's methodology.

"This is a blistering attack on the public service in British Columbia; it is inappropriate," Mr. Bell said. "It was not intended to be useful; there are no recommendations in here that we can take forward and take as constructive criticism."

In a rare personal attack on an independent officer of the legislature, Mr. Bell went on to accuse Mr. Doyle of being "unprofessional" and "lacking in integrity."

Mr. Doyle, who took up the post last fall, shrugged off the criticism and said it is healthy for there to be tension between the government and its watchdogs.

He maintained that the government was given ample opportunity to respond to a draft report, and noted that Mr. Coleman's office had stated in writing that the minister relied solely on an eight-page briefing note for his decision.

Vicky Husband is an environmentalist representing residents in the coastal communities that oppose the development.

She said the Auditor-General's report is grounds for a reversal of the land-use decision.

"I think it's a vindication of the outrage the public has been feeling. ... We are asking the government to reverse the decision and immediately put a stop to any subdivision by Western Forest Products."

Mr. Bell said he will not have the land put back into provincial forestry management.

Duncan Kerr, chief operating officer for Western Forest Products, said his company is continuing to prepare the properties for sale. The company hasn't disclosed the deal's value but an internal government report estimated the change would give the properties a value of $150-million.

"There is no mechanism to rescind the decision even if the government was so inclined," Mr. Kerr said. "The bell cannot be un-rung."

Mr. Coleman, now the Minister for Housing, did release a statement saying he has asked the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to review his conduct in the affair.

His brother, Stan Coleman, is in middle-management at Western Forest Products. Opposition critics raised the potential conflict a year ago, but Rich Coleman said he only approached the Conflict Commissioner 2½ weeks ago when he learned the Auditor-General was going to issue a separate report on the question.

Mr. Kerr said his company sought to have some of its privately owned lands removed from the tree-farm licence program before Stan Coleman joined the company.

The program has been in place since the 1940s and generally granted forest companies access to timber on public lands in exchange for greater government control on their private timberlands.

Rick Jeffery, president of the Coast Forest Products Association, said that old "social contract" has long gone by the wayside through many regulatory changes. He said Mr. Doyle is wrong to suggest the deal wasn't in public interest.

"His definition of the public interest fails to include a healthy, competitive, world-class forest industry in the province," Mr. Jeffery said in an interview. "People should ask the 3,000 forestry workers [at WFP] who are going to benefit from this."

However, employment by Western Forest Products has shrunk since the deal was sealed. The payroll has dropped from 3,000 to 2,400 direct employees, and about 800 of those workers are currently laid off due to temporary mill curtailments.

In his report, Mr. Doyle said the government should have analyzed whether those workers would be better off if the company were allowed to sell off timberlands.

John Horgan, the NDP MLA representing most of the communities affected, said the government is attacking Mr. Doyle in a bid to distract the public from his findings.

"It's trying to deflect the attention away from a profoundly stupid decision made by a minister who is inconceivably still a minister of the Crown."

Jordan River is a favourite haunt for surfers who oppose the proposed development because they fear it will ruin the atmosphere.