B.C. appeal court rejects province’s claim to recoup $254,000 from CN Rail

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – B.C.’s highest court has rejected an appeal from the provincial government seeking $254,000 in lost timber revenue from CN Rail after sparks from a train ignited a wildfire near Ashcroft.

Instead, the three-judge panel has ruled that CN must pay $11,000 in fines and $6,253 for the burned timber. The company has also been awarded legal costs.

The July 29, 2005 fire that initially burned a hillside was believed to have been contained as the province deployed firefighters, tankers and helicopters.

But it grew the following day to cover 40 square kilometres.

The province claimed that nearly $340,000 worth of mature timber was destroyed and that the final firefighting bill came in at about $5.7 million.

In 2008, CN was handed steep fines — $11,000 for violations and more than $250,000 to cover 75 per cent of the lost timber’s value.

CN appealed the fines, based on the fact that timber prices fell dramatically between the time of the fire and when the lost timber was assessed, nearly a year later.

The rail company successfully argued the stumpage rate should have been calculated based on the timber’s value at a future date, when it might have been harvested.

According to CN, the value of the lost timber at the time of the assessment was $6,253.

The Forest Appeals Commission sided with the rail company, but the government took that decision to B.C. Supreme Court, where a judge agreed with CN in 2012 because there were no licences for loggers in the area at the time of the blaze.

The Crown took its case to the B.C. Court of Appeal, which ruled that the commission was acting “reasonably” when it agreed to calculate stumpage based on lower timber prices.(Kamloops This Week)