Parks Canada will spend about $12 million on a plan to kill invasive deer and restore native vegetation on Sidney Island, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
It details costs between 2018 and 2026 that include $2.8 million in salaries and benefits to Parks Canada staff, $1.5 million in studies, $800,000 for Indigenous participation, $3.3 million in miscellaneous expenses — including $53,000 for forest restoration services and plants and trees — and $4.1 million in deer-eradication services.
Parks Canada did not do a detailed census of the fallow deer on Sidney Island before the kill and has relied on a wide estimate of between 300 and 900 fallow deer, though critics of the plan and some resident hunters say the number is closer to 200. Binda said that was a hit to taxpayers of $10,000 a deer. Meanwhile, he said, residents of Sidney Island who organize annual hunts every fall managed to kill 54 fallow deer in October and November “at no cost to taxpayers.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Parks Canada to stop the deer-eradication program as it goes into a second phase this fall and winter.