BC Ferries pulls anti-wolf cull ads after complaint

The Raincoast Conservation Foundation is incredulous after a single passenger complaint caused BC Ferries to review and then pull the group's anti-wolf cull ads from BC Ferries property.

The ads feature a photo of a wolf in a field and messages like "Unscientific. Unethical. Unwarranted." describing the cull.

BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall says the ads were reviewed after a passenger complained, and then were pulled.

"At BC ferries we aim to have all of our advertising on our ships and at our terminals appropriate for all audiences," she said. "With this particular ad, we did get a customer complaint about it, so we reviewed it and we did deem it controversial and political. So we pulled the ad down."

• Caribou conservation group wants snowmobilers out
• B.C. wolf cull: did forest industry unduly affect policy?
• Miley Cyrus invited to B.C. to visit caribou herd threatened by wolves

Raincoast executive director Chris Genovali says BC Ferries' explanation for pulling the ad "would seem to stretch the bounds of credibility."

"It seems implausible, to be honest," he told All Point West's Michael Tymchuk. "Are they actually saying that one individual customer has the power to trigger these events within their decision-making process?"

Genovali says he is upset that his group wasn't given an opportunity to respond to objections to the ad and was critical of communication between Raincoast and BC Ferries.

However, Pattison Outdoor, the company that provides the advertising space, has compensated Raincoast for the pulled ad with free ad time on a billboard near BC Ferries' Tsawwassen terminal.

Genovali says his group has filed a freedom of information request to determine exactly how the decision to pull the ad played out on BC Ferries' end.

To hear the full story, click on the audio labelled: Anti-wolf cull ads pulled from BC Ferries ship after complaint