the responses made by agencies to the cull. The task force was given until March 25 to provide a report and recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture, however there were complications as the delays occurred as an unexpected volume of public input from around the world had to be considered and the criminal RCMP investigation made key evidence and witnesses unavailable. All the recommendations from the task force were eventually enacted in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2011. Minister of Environment After Campbell announced his resignation the BC Liberal Party leadership election began, the winner of which would become premier. In mid-December 2010 Lake endorsed George Abbott, citing Abbott's "collaborative and engaging style to governing" and his profile as a fellow Interior and rural MLA. Christy Clark would eventually win the leadership race. When the 39th Parliament resumed with a third session and Clark as premier, she promoted Lake to Minister of Environment and made him the deputy government house leader. Clark and Lake committed to continue with the carbon tax and a carbon neutral public service, but backed away from the province's legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets. The issue about BC's participation in the Western Climate Initiative was reviewed by the entire cabinet, who decided to continue with WCI's planned cap-and-trade system. An emphasis in the Ministry of Environment was placed on BC Parks with announcements by Clark and Lake on the elimination of parking fees at parks, a one-year youth passport program, new online tools to facilitate park usage, a park bench sponsorship program, and a $500,000 program to celebrate B.C. Parks' 100th-anniversary. Lake came under criticism for not publicly releasing the report and recommendations of the Species at Risk Task Force. To compensate for the slow action on the task force, the opposition environment critic Rob Fleming re-introduced his own Species at Risk Protection Act in June 2011. Lake released the task force report in July for a public comment period. As the Minister of Environment, Lake had to defend the Environmental Assessment Office following a review by the Auditor General who identified short-comings and continued criticism regarding the rigorousness of the environmental review process as a proposed copper-gold mine, which was approved by Lake's predecessor, was refused by the federal government. Lake came under criticism from fellow BC Liberal MLAs John Les, John van Dongen, and Donna Barnett after Lake approved Metro Vancouver's