With “good will,” the decline of the caribou in three regions of Quebec could be avoided, according to the leader of the Bloc Québécois, who did not, however, explain how, concretely, the situation of the species could be improved.
Yves-François Blanchet, who denounces a possible federal emergency decree to protect the caribou, believes that “there is an enormous space for negotiation” that “must certainly involve the First Nations, the biologists, the ecologists, the Quebec government, the unions and the forestry industry” to allow the woodland caribou to survive in regions of Quebec where forestry alters its habitat.
According to the Bloc leader, “the only thing it takes for this to happen is good will.”
Negotiations on the forest regime should take place as quickly as possible, before federal elections, according to Yves-François Blanchet.
“You understand that the only thing worse that can happen to the woodland caribou than a Liberal government is a Conservative government,” indicated the Bloc leader on the sidelines of a press conference on another subject, Monday morning in Ottawa.
Mr. Blanchet also believes “that there are people for whom it pays electorally, that there is no solution” to ensure the sustainability of the caribou.
The politician did not specifically indicate who he was talking about, but he specified that it was not the Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, because he “sincerely” believes that he “would prefer that there be effective negotiations between all stakeholders”, even if he denounces the Liberal’s methods.
“It’s not time for me to get wet”
The Canadian Press pointed out to the Bloc leader that in recent years, several public consultations and discussions have taken place to try to put in place solutions to ensure the survival of the caribou and the press agency asked Yves-François Blanchet what his political party’s “concrete proposals” were on this subject.
“It’s not time for me to get involved and tell you what we should do,” said the Bloc member.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Yves-François Blanchet
He added, however, that his party intends to work on “a road map” that it will “put into play” to “tell people, here is what we think would be possible avenues and the decision-makers will do what they want with it.”
“A billion” losses
The Bloc leader has been repeating for months that the federal government is overstepping its authority by threatening to impose a decree on Quebec to protect the caribou in the Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan areas.
This decree, which could reduce the forestry potential by 1.4 million cubic metres of wood per year in the three zones, would cause damage to the forestry industry, argued the Bloc leader.
“The Canadian government itself says that it’s close to a billion dollars in losses in economic activity in the regions of Quebec,” said Yves-François Blanchet, referring to an impact analysis carried out by Ottawa which estimates that the decree would cause the Quebec economy to lose between 670 and 895 million dollars over 10 years, according to Radio-Canada.
“All of this potentially to allow the Liberal government to take a position that is only electoral, because forest management, everyone will agree with that, it cannot be about leaving the entire forest fallow,” added Mr. Blanchet.
Currently, the Government of Canada is consulting with Quebec’s Indigenous communities, the local population and communities, and industries to clarify the scope of a possible decree. The Government of Quebec has refused to participate in these consultations.
Ghislain Picard, who heads the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQ), was also present at Monday morning’s press conference in Ottawa.
Unlike the Bloc leader, he reiterated that he supports Ottawa’s intention to impose a decree to protect the caribou.
“Why do we support the process of implementing a decree? It’s because on the one hand, we have a government that listens to us, and on the other, we have a government that is not there,” he said, denouncing François Legault’s government.
Together Against Chalk River
Ghislain Picard and Yves François Blanchet participated in a press conference on Monday, with indigenous leaders, to ask the federal government to review the location of the Chalk River nuclear waste dump project.
The site is located less than a kilometre from the Ottawa River, the territorial boundary between Ontario and Quebec.
Many communities are particularly concerned about the impacts the nuclear waste site could have on cultural practices, wildlife and soils, as well as the potential for radioactive waste to leach into water.