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A Churchill lodge owner has launched two more legal attempts to regain permits to do polar bear tours, including a court application that would double the number of permits he had in past seasons.
Lawyers for Wally Daudrich, owner of Lazy Bear Lodge and Expeditions, have filed notices of both a motion and an application designed to get his tundra vehicles back on and off the roads in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area in northern Manitoba. Both notices, filed with the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday, are scheduled to be heard on Aug. 12.
The application asks the court to declare that Daudrich and his company have the right to four off-road tundra vehicle wildlife viewing permits, which would double the number of permits he previously held.
The application also seeks four permits to operate tundra vehicles on built-up roads in the wildlife management area, in addition to the four off-road permits.
“The polar bear population belongs to the people of Manitoba. It doesn’t belong to one or two specific companies,” Daudrich said about his latest attempts to get his permits reinstated.
“You can’t run an entire tourism industry on two dominant companies.”
The province issued 18 of the off-road vehicle permits between 1984 and 2019. Two more were issued to Lazy Bear in 2020, bringing the total number of permits to 20.
The province informed Lazy Bear on Feb. 27, 2025, that it would not receive permits for the 2025-26 polar bear viewing season, leaving the remaining 18 with rival ecotourism companies Great White Bear and Frontiers North.
A tundra vehicle belonging to Lazy Bear Expeditions is seen parked in Churchill, Man., last year. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)
Daudrich fought the decision in court. Justice Shawn Greenberg ruled on Jan. 9 that the province acted improperly when it decided not to reissue permits to Lazy Bear and cast doubt on wildlife branch claims the decision was motivated by a need to protect polar bears.
The province was ordered to reconsider but appealed that order on March 3.
Daudrich has continued his fight to get the permits. He received a letter June 3 saying the province was sticking to its decision to reduce the number of permits to 18.
Daudrich’s court application for four permits asks that the June decision be declared “unlawful, null and void, invalid and/or of no force and effect” for a number of reasons. He says he was never given an opportunity to make written submissions before the initial decision was reconsidered, despite the judge saying in January that that should be allowed.
The application says the government’s actions “were based on ulterior or improper purposes, bias, and bad faith and constitute a misuse or abuse of authority.”
Daudrich maintains Manitoba’s NDP government has singled him out because he was a longtime Progressive Conservative party member and because he ran for the PC leadership in 2025. He has since joined the Keystone Party.
“I believe that the government is acting in bad faith,” Daudrich said Wednesday.
A provincial spokesperson said the government doesn’t comment on matters before the court.
Daudrich says Manitoba’s NDP government has singled him out. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)
Daudrich’s notice of motion, which is a separate document from the application but was filed the same day, asks the court to prevent the province from barring Lazy Bear from doing tundra vehicle tours on roads in the wildlife management area.
A document outlining permit condition changes, which Daudrich shared with the CBC in June, says all-terrain tundra vehicles are no longer allowed to operate on the built-up road system in the wildlife area. A letter Daudrich received from the province explained that the size, limited manoeuvrability and weight of the tundra vehicles make them unsuitable for road use.
“The applicants have suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable harm if the requested relief is not granted,” the motion says, and granting it “simply preserves the status quo that existed prior.”
Meanwhile, Gambler First Nation issued a news release Wednesday saying it was entering a partnership with Lazy Bear Lodge and Expeditions.
There were few details in the news release about what the partnership entails, but it said it adds to Gambler’s “growing portfolio” of economic enterprises and will “strengthen First Nation participation in Churchill’s tourism industry.”