Lawyers acting for the Sea-to-Sea Greenbelt Society sent the provincial cabinet a nine-page letter asking them to fix a land use problem they created on southern Vancouver Island. The response they got from premier Gordon Campbell was just four sentences.

In the July 22, 2008 letter, Victoria lawyer Irene Faulkner and law student Rachel Forbes asked the cabinet to use its power to “not receive” Western Forest Products' application for subdivisions on former Tree Farm License land on southern Vancouver Island. That's something the cabinet can do under the Land Title Act, she said, “when it appears that the deposit of a subdivision plan is against the public interest.”

She referred to Auditor General John Doyle's July report that found the provincial government had not given due consideration to the public interest when it released 28,000 hectares of Western Forest Product's private land from management under the Tree Farm License system.

The government's decision was done without consulting the public or the Capital Regional District, she pointed out, which meant the CRD didn't have enough time to put bylaws in place to protect the status quo.

The CRD put in such bylaws after the fact, and is now defending them against a court challenge.

Here's the complete response, dated August 15 but not received by Faulkner until September 10, signed by premier Campbell: “Thank you for your letter regarding the removal of TFL lands in the Capital Regional District. Your comments and recommendations have been noted. Please be assured that they will be included in related discussions. I appreciate your taking the time to write.”

“The premier's response to our proposal . . . is cavalier and dismissive,” said Ray Zimmermann, director of Sea-to-Sea. "It was a big disappointment for us. We were hoping, not expecting but hoping, they'd address the substance of the issue."

Faulkner and Forbes' letter noted Sea-to-Sea will also request a reversal of the decision to release the land from the TFLs.