B.C. auditor general to review Vancouver Island land deal
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | 10:20 AM PT
CBC News
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B.C.'s auditor general will review a controversial decision to release private land from three tree farm licences on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Last January, the minister of forests, Rich Coleman, agreed to release about 28,000 hectares of private land held by Duncan-based Western Forest Products from the tree farm licences.
The forest company plans to sell it off to real estate developers to build subdivisions.
Critics accused the government of bowing to pressure from forest companies and opening the door to more urban sprawl.
The land surrounds popular outdoor recreation areas west of Victoria near the West Coast Trail, including a surf break at Jordan River and the Sooke River potholes.
After receiving a number of complaints about the minister's decision, B.C. Auditor General John Doyle announced Monday that his office will review the decision to remove the private land from tree farm licences Nos. 6, 19 and 25.
Much of that land is in New Democratic MLA John Horgan's riding of Malahat-Juan de Fuca. Horgan said Monday he hopes the review by the auditor general will answer some important questions about the release of the land.
"I think for the public a better understanding of why the minister gave up the public interest for the corporate interest, and why the minister and the B.C. Liberals decided without any consultation that this was good for the people of Vancouver Island," Horgan said.
Doyle said he expects to complete his review early in 2008.
The deal prompted considerable concern from environmental groups who say the release of the land from the tree farm licences for development without any compensation from the company sets a dangerous precedent.
"The company is clearly going to make a fortune from this decision, and the minister could have obtained significant public benefit in exchange for these removals," Ray Zimmerman, of the Sea-to-Sea Greenbelt Society, said in Victoria last month.
"He could have required the establishment of new parks, or lands to replace lost habitat and watershed protections, or lands to use as part of the First Nations treaty process," Zimmerman said.
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