B.C. Mines Minister faces scrutiny over ties to guide-outfitting operation

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When Bill Bennett entered politics, he portrayed himself as "the voice of the hunter" in the B.C. Legislature.

But after 14 years, Mr. Bennett – now the province's powerful Mines Minister – finds himself in conflict with hunters, and facing scrutiny over his ties to Height of the Rockies Adventure Co. Ltd., a guide outfitting operation that owes him $70,000 for a shareholder loan.

A long-simmering feud between British Columbia's 97,000 resident hunters and 245 professional guide outfitters who cater to wealthy foreign clients exploded in December, when the government introduced changes that reallocated the share of wildlife, giving an increased share to guides.

Some of the changes could potentially raise the market value of guide-outfitting operations – among other things, by increasing wildlife allocations (letting guides sell more hunting trips) and by allowing corporations, not just individuals, to buy guiding territories. Regulations were also changed to eliminate penalties if guides exceed their yearly game quotas and to allow guide outfitters to extend the length of their tenures.

One of Mr. Bennett's cabinet colleagues, Forests Minister Steve Thomson, acknowledged in an interview that Mr. Bennett injected himself into the debate, saying "he has a strong interest in the file."

And in a leaked e-mail released by the NDP, Mr. Bennett himself wrote that he has "been intimately involved in the allocation file."

Mr. Bennett has declared his shareholder loan in public documents he has filed annually with British Columbia's Conflict of Interest Commissioner, documents all MLAs are required to file.

Government records also show Mr. Bennett has not recused himself from any cabinet discussions or legislative committees since 2009. That would include any discussions about the new hunt allocations.

British Columbia's Conflict of Interest Act says cabinet ministers must "refrain at all times from attempting to influence" matters in which they have "a conflict of interest or an apparent conflict of interest."

At cabinet meetings, the act notes, the cabinet minister must "disclose the general nature of the private interest and withdraw from the meeting without voting or participating in the discussion."

In an interview, Mr. Bennett rejected any suggestion he is in a conflict of interest and said he cannot be accused of favouring the interests of guides over resident hunters.

"If anything, I have a bit of a bias towards the resident hunter," he said.

Mr. Bennett said 12 investors – "a bunch of lawyers, doctors, dentists and professional hockey players" – founded Height of the Rockies Adventure in 1995. For $400,000 they bought a few "ramshackle" cabins and guiding rights in an area of soaring peaks in the Rocky Mountains near his riding in southeast B.C.

The company's guiding territory is so rich in big game, it has twice been featured on U.S. television hunting shows.

In ads, it billed itself as the Serengeti of North America. The investors, who built a grand lodge set against a dramatic mountain backdrop, thought the big game and scenery would be a winning combination.

But 20 years after it was launched, the company has just sold at a major loss, according to Mr. Bennett, who grew up in a hunting family and who in one campaign ad featured a picture of a hunter with a dead grizzly bear.

Mr. Bennett said he sold his shares the year he was elected, in 2001, so he'd be free to engage in hunting issues in the legislature. But the $70,000 shareholder loan he made to the company remained outstanding

"I mean one of the reasons I was getting elected was to come to Victoria and be able to deal with hunting and fishing and outdoor issues, and I certainly didn't want to be encumbered with some small, little business which I had no active involvement with and which never made a dime the whole time that I was in it," he said. "I got those shares for nothing. I didn't pay anything for them. They were issued when we formed the company in 1995. The money that's owed to me … is called a shareholder loan. That was actually cash that I put in as a loan to the company. It's very, very, very standard, conventional business practice."

A filing with the corporate registry shows the company has 10,000 Class A shares worth nothing and 10,000 Class B shares valued at one cent each.

Height of the Rockies Guide Outfitters, a separate company that provided the guiding services, was recently sold and, a few weeks ago, Height of the Rockies Adventure changed its name to a numbered company. (Cranbrook dentist Chris Callen, who is listed as proprietor of Height of the Rockies Adventure, did not return calls.)

Mr. Bennett expects to get back $30,000 of the $70,000 loan. "As soon as I know I will disclose it to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner," he said.

And he noted the sale will not bring him any profit. "We invested a lot. We being all the shareholders up to the time that I got out. They continued to invest after I left. I am told that the total investment in the business was around $1.2 million," Mr. Bennett said. "I understand the purchase price is $400,000. So there's a very significant loss that everyone who's associated with this thing is going to incur."

Mr. Bennett said he's always been scrupulous about ensuring his ties to Height of the Rockies Adventure did not compromise his work at the legislature. He said he advised the Conflict of Interest Commissioner that he visited the lodge at times.

B.C.'s Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Paul Fraser, said he has not investigated Mr. Bennett's files because there have been no complaints, and he could not say if Mr. Bennett has sought advice on the matter.

"The way our system works is, if I am consulted, it is on a confidential basis," he said. "There shouldn't be an inference drawn either way."

Mr. Bennett was asked if he could see a possible conflict of interest in supporting policy changes that helped the guide outfitting sector, while at the same time being owed money by a guide outfitting company.

"Had I retained my shares in that company, even if I had put them in a blind trust, I would have been nervous about that and I probably would have felt it maybe wasn't technically a conflict of interest, but it certainly could have been perceived that way," he said. "My decision to get rid of those shares was based on my desire to be elected as an MLA from a rural riding and participate fully with all the issues … and in particular the outdoor issues."

Shortly after the latest hunting regulations were announced, Mr. Bennett's Facebook page filled with complaints from hunters. In one reply, he warned that things were "not going to end in a good place" for the B.C. Wildlife Federation if members continued to attack him and Mr. Thomson, whose ministry is responsible for hunting issues.

"Frankly Steve doesn't need the votes to get elected and I'm not running again, so all the threats don't mean shit to us," he wrote.

He later apologizing for his remarks, saying he didn't know the postings were public.

"Over my career I've, you know, I've been accused of a lot of things, but one thing I've never been accused of is being dishonest and it troubles me a lot," Mr. Bennett said. "I consider this the most serious thing frankly that I've ever dealt with in my career. I could get mad and say stupid things or send an idiotic e-mail to somebody with profanity in it and that's just, you know that's just my personality and people accept that. But I've never, ever been accused of being anything but honest and up-front."