Premier's hand-picked liaison quits process to save endangered caribou in northeastern B.C.

A former cabinet minister has resigned his role as "community liaison" for a controversial caribou recovery plan  in northeastern B.C.

Government figures from 2019 reveal the Dawson Creek area has six caribou herds, but their numbers have declined from 800 to about 220 over two decades.

Blair Lekstrom was appointed by Premier John Horgan nine months ago to bridge tensions between local groups, including backcountry enthusiasts and Indigenous nations, over government plans to save the threatened herds. 

 Lekstrom's role was to be an intermediary between the B.C. government and people in B.C.'s Peace region who feared saving endangered caribou would kill  hundreds of jobs in mining and forestry. 

Hunters and snowmobilers  feared they  would lose their access to the backcountry.

Now, Lekstrom says the B.C. government is refusing to listen. And so, he's quitting.

"It's staggering," he said of the NDP's position. 

Lekstrom, now a city councillor in Dawson Creek, says he spent months speaking with people in the region, including municipal governments and industry.

The province implemented an interim moratorium on the recovery program when Lekstrom produced a report calling for more local government involvement.

But Lekstrom said all but one of the 14 recommendations he proposed to government have been rejected.

"You know, I would consider John [Horgan] a friend of mine. But you know we ... are at opposite ends on this one. I'm going to try and not impact a friendship ... but it is absolutely astounding to me."

Lekstrom said B.C. refused to allow elected leaders from the Peace have a say on a key working group, the Caribou Recovery Table, where major decisions were being made.

And he was told the caribou plan that generated so much controversy would not change.

"The premier responded ... stating that there was no intent to change the document's text in any way," said Lekstrom.

'Unheard of in my political career'

He said B.C. appears poised to proceed, without considering the significant socio-economic impacts on the northeast.

"It's unheard of in my political career," he said.

Lekstrom calls himself "an eternal optimist." But he says he's not optimistic about the caribou initiative. 

"[With] no changes coming, I am not sure how the population up [in the Peace] here is going to handle this," he said.

In a written statement to CBC, Premier John Horgan thanked Lekstrom "for his important work."

Horgan said BC wants to protect both caribou and the "livelihoods of people who live in the Peace."

He said government has been working hard to ensure local governments "have a larger role," but his government can't unilaterally make changes to the caribou recovery plan, without the approval of their federal and First Nations partners.

The Peace River Regional District said Friday it would no longer participate in two caribou-related working group meetings.