An Audit of the Government of BC’s Framework for Enforcement of the Forest Practices Code

During development of British Columbia’s Forest Practices Code (the Code), there was public concern about whether forest companies would follow the Code and whether government would enforce it. As a result, the provincial government created the Forest Practices Board to act as an independent watchdog.

In order to audit the appropriateness of government’s enforcement activities, the Board first had to develop an understanding of how government goes about enforcing the Code – what is the infrastructure and what are the processes government has put in place to carry out this responsibility? Accordingly, the Board embarked upon this audit of government’s framework for enforcement of the Code.

This audit consisted of two parts, first a review of the current infrastructure government ministries have in place for enforcement and second, extensive interviews with people involved in Code enforcement, both in the field and at headquarters.