Ottawa is warning municipalities and provinces that there will be no more tolerance for the destruction of habitats harboring endangered species.
As the COP15 on biodiversity, to be held in Montreal next December, approaches, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, has acknowledged that there is “a lack of sensitivity” on the part of several stakeholders with regard to the life of certain species at risk.
In interview with The Canadian PressMinister Guilbeault argued that federal interventions like the one that stopped construction of a boulevard in Longueuil to protect the endangered chorus frog, a frog on the verge of extinction, will be repeated until the message be understood.
“The party is over”
“We have used the Endangered Species Act in some cases to stop development projects. I don’t think we’re going to need to do this all the time. I think when we’ve done it a sufficient number of times, people will understand that the party is over, ”he dropped.
Minister Guilbeault believes that his government will always have free rein to intervene when required.
“The courts supported us on this. We are, from a legal point of view, on very solid ground and when we have done it a couple of times, people will understand, ”he insisted.
Ottawa had adopted an emergency decree in November 2021 to slow down the work to extend a boulevard in the Montérégie municipality. The work had been carried out with the consent of the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, despite an unfavorable opinion from the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks.
The City of Longueuil was subsequently obliged to carry out emergency work to preserve one of the last habitats of the small amphibian.
Copper Redhorse: The Real Test
This willingness of the Minister will be put to the test very soon as the Port of Montreal is waiting for a permit to expand the Contrecoeur terminal, downstream from Montreal on the St. Lawrence River. This expansion jeopardizes the survival of another endangered species, the copper redhorse. This fish does not exist anywhere else in the world except in Quebec, in the sector located between Lac Saint-Louis and Lac Saint-Pierre and particularly in the estuary of the Richelieu River.
For biologist and general manager of the Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP Quebec) Alain Branchaud, the Port Authority’s request is the ultimate test of Minister Guilbeault’s desire. “It would not be serious, especially with COP15 coming up, to send a message that we are going to destroy the most endangered species, the endemic species which is the standard bearer for the protection of biodiversity in Quebec,” he said.
“Boots have to follow chops in this case,” he added, saying his organization and others are ready to go to court to block the issuance of the permit.
The copper redhorse is protected by the Species at Risk Act and although the Port Authority claims to be able to develop seagrass beds elsewhere than in areas where they will be destroyed by dredging, many independent specialists have been skeptical to the effectiveness of such a measure. It is only afterwards that this effectiveness could be demonstrated and if it is not there, as many fear, it will be too late.