Strawberry producer Les Entreprises Pitre is in a legal tussle with the municipality of Lac-des-Écorces, which will file a motion for contempt of court in the coming days.
The company allegedly did not comply with a Superior Court order ordering it to cease construction work on buildings intended to house foreign workers, carried out on land located in an agricultural zone.
The municipality of Lac-des-Écorces, in the Hautes-Laurentides, does not appreciate the behavior of this major market gardener, who supplies strawberries for large supermarkets such as Costco, IGA and Metro.
The City accuses the company of having started construction and backfilling work on two lots that are part of an agricultural zone without a permit from the municipality and without having obtained the green light from the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec ( CPTAQ).
Before the Superior Court
In April, the CPTAQ, watchdog of agricultural land, issued a notice of non-compliance for the project of a complex intended to house foreign workers on land in an agricultural zone. Without authorization from the CPTAQ, the City cannot issue a permit.
However, Lac-des-Écorces noticed in the days that followed that Les Entreprises Pitre was carrying out construction and backfilling work on the land. At the end of April, it produced a notice to force the stoppage of the work, but it would not have been respected.
The case ended up before a judge of the Superior Court, who ordered Les Entreprises Pitre to “cease the execution of all work” until the case was heard at the end of June, noting that a potential non-compliance requirements of the Act respecting the protection of agricultural territory and activities “constitutes serious prejudice”.
“Significant economic damage”
In his defence, the farmer alleged that he could suffer “significant economic loss” representing up to 50% of his strawberry harvest if he could not build the additional mobile homes to house his seasonal workers.
The directors of Entreprises Pitre refused to grant an interview to the To have to. By email, a representative of the producer points out that in the last few days she finally received the green light from the CPTAQ and, as a result, permits from the municipality.
This is confirmed by the lawyer for the municipality Rino Soucy, of the firm DHC Avocats: “But on our side, we observed, with supporting evidence, that the company did not respect the judgment of the court and that she continued her work. The Town Hall intends to file a motion for contempt of court in early July.
By email, Les Entreprises Pitre claim, for their part, to have complied with the order of the Superior Court: “We maintain that we were in compliance; […] we complied with court orders in every way. »
A young vegetable farm in operation for six years, Les Entreprises Pitre have been talked about in the media over the past year. The Press reported last summer that they had succeeded in selling part of their production — prominently displayed with the Aliments du Québec logo — at the American giant Costco.
Otherwise, The duty reported in the fall that about 15 Mexican and Guatemalan agricultural workers had left the farm before the end of their contract and had confided to him that they were “exhausted and disappointed” with the working conditions. About 10 of them had returned home with the employer’s consent, and 6 others had left without a trace.