A lot of people were scratching their heads recently when a conservation officer was suspended for refusing to kill two black bear cubs and chose instead to take them to a wildlife centre.
It seems to me that when someone signs on to be a ‘conservation officer’ they are assuming that they are going to conserve stuff, not destroy it. The Conservation Officer vision states, as part of their motto that they: “Remain committed to protecting British Columbia’s natural environment and those who enjoy it.”
It is not clear whether this includes the animals who are enjoying it, or just the humans.
I’m sure everyone agrees this officer acted correctly but having been a part of government agencies over the years I have no doubt, that in someone’s office, there is a four-inch red binder with the words ‘Policy Manual’ printed on the spine.
Policy manuals are amazing documents. One day, their contents will save your bacon and the next, a poorly written or conceived phrase or paragraph will sink your ship faster than a North Sea iceberg.
If you have an employee that you want to chastise, you can search through the pages of a policy manual and find the section and paragraph that hangs him by his heels. If you want to praise an employee, no doubt you can find the section that indicates he is to be credited with acting “as per the policies and guidelines of our organization.”
I have sat in mediations and arbitrations and been on the losing side because we didn’t have a policy covering our actions or requests. I have also sat in mediations and arbitrations and been on the losing side because we had a policy, but failed to follow it.
Policy reviews are always a challenge. These are usually completed by a committee, many of whom were never there when the original policy was written.
What to take out or what to leave in becomes a challenge and eventually lawyers get involved to make sure the new words you put in don’t negate the current content. You should never volunteer to be on a policy review committee.
I was once asked to do some consulting work for a firm. As part of my indoctrination I was given their 50-page policy manual to review. It was very comprehensive and covered everything from dress code, to the company’s vision, goals, and objectives.
The manual was explicit in how to conduct the surveys and interviews, how to report out and how to prepare and make presentations in their proposed format. It covered it all right down to the make of vehicle to rent.
Then, on the very last page in large bold print it said: “Should a situation arise that is not covered in this manual, do the right thing.”
Too often, that’s what gets lost. Exercising common sense, doing the right thing.
Of course saving those bear cubs was the right thing to do. After all, this is British Columbia where we take saving animals seriously. Comedian Ronnie James talks about our province’s protesters saying, “You can’t swing a cat in B.C. without hitting an animal rights activist.” But someone opened the policy manual and now the hearings begin.
“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.”
The right thing to do isn’t always the easy thing to do but in the end it’s harder to argue against. At least, that’s what McGregor says.