In a 1994 poll conducted by the B.C. government, 85% of respondents said they support $1 million fines for the forest industry and felt that tougher enforcement of better forest practices is long overdue.52 In virtually all promotion of the Forest Practices Code from 1993 to the present, the phrases most-often used have been "tough enforcement," "heavier penalties," and "million dollar fines".
For example, a July 1994 B.C. government mailout to all residents regarding forestry changes explained: "The provincial government has introduced British Columbia's first Forest Practices Code -- with strict new standards, heavy penalties, and tough enforcement of the law. It includes fines of up to $1 million a day -- $2 million a day for repeat offenders -- and requires violators to pay for clean-up costs ... The Code will ensure sustainable forestry is practiced on the ground."53
The agency that is supposed to oversee enforcement of the Code is called the Forest Practices Board. In the almost two years of its existence, the FPB has released only two audits. The first audit of one forest licence found "situations of significant non-compliance" with the Code, especially regarding streams and buffer zones.54
Yet, subsequently the Chair of the Forest Practices Board referred to the audit as a passing grade.55
There are two levels of enforcement of the Code. Minor violations are dealt with through administrative penalties, much the same as parking tickets, while major offences are dealt with through laying charges to be pursued through the courts. While some "administrative penalities" have been applied, none of the widely hyped "$1 million fines" have yet been charged for an infraction, and no company has yet been taken to court under the Code.
The Code has been in effect for almost two years. So far not a single charge has been laid: zero charges, zero convictions.
Some B.C. environmentalists believe that companies are able to avoid code regulations because the forest ministry does not have the staff to enforce the code Or is it "the political will"?
In November 1996, the B.C. government announced 250 job cuts to the Environment Ministry, part of some 3,500 positions to be chopped from the provincial civil service.56 The 1997 provincial budget made even more cuts to the Environment Ministry and introduced huge cuts to the Ministry of Forests.
With fewer and fewer staff and resources government enforcement of the Code is fast changing from unlikely to impossible, and the B.C. forest industry is reverting to the days of self-policing and voluntary compliance.