Company owned by Manitoba PC leadership candidate asks court to restore polar-bear viewing permits

Wally Daudrich, who is running to lead Manitoba's Official Opposition, has asked a court to overturn a provincial decision to deprive his ecotourism business of permits to operate tundra vehicles in a wildlife management area east of Churchill during the upcoming polar bear viewing season.

In February, provincial wildlife branch director Maria Arlt informed Daudrich his company, Lazy Bear Expeditions, is no longer permitted to operate two tundra vehicles on the coastal plains of the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, where polar bears gather in large numbers each fall before the ice freezes up on Hudson Bay.

Arlt said Lazy Bear's licence was rescinded for the 2025 season because of the continuing decline in the number of polar bears on the western side of Hudson Bay, based on a 2021 aerial survey.

Arlt said the province is reducing the number of vehicles allowed to traverse the tundra in the management area from 20 to 18. That was the number of vehicles permitted to carry tourists to see polar bears prior to 2020, when the provincial government granted two more vehicle allocations to Lazy Bear.

In an application filed on March 26, Daudrich asked the Manitoba Court of King's Bench to review the wildlife branch's decision, declare it invalid and restore his permits for two vehicles. Daudrich also asked the court to declare the decision was unreasonable and made in bad faith.

In an affidavit dated April 2, Daudrich said the loss of two permits "will severely impact" Lazy Bear's business and its ability to compete with two other tundra-vehicle operators, Great White Bear Tours and Frontiers North Adventures.

Daudrich said in the affidavit provincial conservation officers "take a stricter and more confrontational approach to Lazy Bear" than they take with his competitors.

In the affidavit, he accused the province of allowing the other tour companies to drive maintenance vehicles with no permits in the wildlife management area, allowing them to leave their lodges in the area all year and allowing them "to use heavy equipment, including front loaders, to herd polar bears."

Daudrich said in his affidavit the wildlife branch did not provide any advance notice it was considering a reduction in the number of vehicle permits in the management area. He also stated there is no evidence polar bear numbers are in decline on the west side of Hudson Bay, and said even if they are, the decline could not be attributed to tundra vehicle operations.

His affidavit said he received permits in 2022, 2023 and 2024, after the conclusion of a 2021 aerial survey cited by the wildlife branch as evidence for the decline of the western Hudson Bay polar bear population.

Daudrich's affidavit also noted he is currently running to lead the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party, and said "it is well known that I am no friend" of the governing New Democratic Party.

The affidavit said Lazy Bear expects it will be forced to cancel bookings this summer, and said Daudrich believed one of his competitors informed a tour-booking company about the loss of Lazy Bear's permits.

"If this was in fact the case, it would not be the first time that my competitors approached Lazy Bear's customers in an effort to dissuade them from booking with Lazy Bear," Daudrich said in his affidavit. 

Great White Bear Tours president Kyle Walkowski and Frontiers North president John Gunter declined to comment.

Spokespeople for Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie and wildlife branch director Arlt said they could not comment on a matter before the courts.

An initial hearing is slated for April 10, according to court documents.