A total of 19 lobbyists currently have an active mandate with the Quebec government to plead the cause of the forestry industry in the face of possible measures to protect the habitat of the forest-dwelling caribou, which is increasingly threatened by logging that is cutting into the boreal forest, which is essential to its survival.
According to data available in the Quebec registry, several companies and business groups have lobbyists whose mandates are linked to the forest caribou issue.
This is the case of the Quebec Forest Industry Council. Its two lobbyists have a mandate to make “representations aimed at obtaining the adoption of measures to protect forest and mountain caribou populations that would reconcile the vitality of this species with that of the forest industry.”
The same story is heard from the Fédération québécoise des coopératives forestières. Its seven lobbyists have a mandate that is described as wanting to “protect caribou while preserving the economic vitality of the regions and cooperatives affected by the protection measures.” In particular, it is a question of advocating for the conduct of “social and economic impact studies in each region affected by caribou protection and for each scenario considered.”
For its part, WestRock is calling for support from the Quebec government, “particularly through intervention with the federal government in connection with the emergency decree on forest-dwelling caribou, to offset the planned reduction in production.”
Two other companies have a total of six lobbyists who have mandates that mention maintaining the “supply” of wood. This is the case of the Coopérative forestière de Petit Paris, located north of Lac Saint-Jean. The lobbying efforts aim to “obtain the adoption of measures to protect forest and mountain caribou populations that minimize the impacts of the wood supply guarantee of our sawmill.” Forest caribou do not exist in this region, but only in the Gaspé.
The mandate of the three Boisaco lobbyists includes steps “to promote sustainable forestry and concerted solutions based on the principles of sustainable development, particularly in the context of protecting caribou and achieving government targets in terms of protected areas.”
The company argued against the imposition of a federal decree aimed at protecting the critical habitat of three populations of caribou on the brink of extinction, two of which are now in captivity to prevent their disappearance.
Testifying at hearings on the order held last week by the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa, Boisaco representatives questioned the scientific data that shows the woodland caribou is threatened. “The species is not threatened in Quebec, and I think that’s important to understand.” […] “We don’t understand the concept of urgency,” said its general manager, André Gilbert.
Let us recall that the federal emergency decree targets the habitat of the Val-d’Or caribou, of which only 9 individuals remain. It also aims to protect the Charlevoix herd, of which all 39 individuals are in enclosures.
The third population is that of Pipmuacan. The last official report, which dates back to 2020, counted barely 225 animals in a territory of more than 28,000 km². “The population is in an extremely precarious state, and its capacity for self-sufficiency is unlikely in the current conditions,” concluded the government experts at the time.