McCarthy Tétrault recently achieved a complete victory on behalf of Blue Goose Cattle Company Ltd. and one of its directors in a $130 million B.C. Wildfire Act cost-recovery case. The decision vindicates the respondents and applies multiple Wildfire Act defences, including due diligence and lack of causation. As British Columbia brings Wildfire Act claims with increasing frequency, the case offers useful guidance to businesses that operate in areas prone to wildfires.
Background
The B.C. Wildfire Act and Wildfire Regulation create a cost recovery scheme that permits British Columbia to recover certain costs if a person contravenes the Act or the Regulation in a way that results in a wildfire, subject to various defences.
In early 2024, British Columbia brought a $130 million claim against Blue Goose and one of its directors in relation to a wildfire near Lillooet, B.C. British Columbia alleged that the respondents contravened the Regulation and caused the fire by not doing enough to prevent trees from touching a power line. The respondents had only a few months to prepare a defence given the Act's pending three-year limitation period.
Decision
McCarthy Tétrault achieved a complete victory on behalf of the respondents.
The decision-maker determined that the respondents had not contravened the Regulation because they had taken reasonable steps to manage vegetation, including by engaging service providers to assess and manage vegetation as necessary. The decision-maker found that these reasonable steps triggered the due diligence defence under s. 29 of the Act.
The decision-maker also determined that British Columbia had not meet its burden to prove that the respondents caused the fire. The decision-maker rejected British Columbia's theory of causation based on cross-examination of British Columbia's expert, and the respondents' expert evidence that the power line presented only a negligible risk of causing a fire.
The decision-maker dismissed the case completely and made no order against the respondents.
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