In response to concerns raised by members, HAC has joined with a variety of other Associations to ensure that the Province of BC revisits the terms of its new Wildlife Guidelines for Adventure Tourism. At stake, is access to airspace for helicopter operations but the province is also preparing to demand access to Aircraft tracking data – provided by operators to the provinces for the purpose of managing and monitoring helicopter operations. Oh, and incidentally, they would like to use the data for the purposes of monitoring compliance with the new Guidelines. HAC believes that they intend to leverage compliance with the terms of the Wildlife Guidelines against individual operators through the application of the Provincial Licensing or Tenure application process, using the data. The province has also implied that they would use the data – that HAC believes they have no right to obtain – to grant or deny applications for aviation permits or tenure – that HAC believes that they have no right to control under the terms of our constitution.
The use of tracking data provided by operators to the provinces for their use while managing and monitoring helicopters on wildfire operations has been called in to question more than once by members – but for the provinces to then give the data to other Provincial departments for enforcement purposes, sets a very dangerous precedent. Who gets the data, next? Transport Canada? Municipalities, to monitor noise? The information was never provided for those purposes.