The Superior Court of Quebec on Friday ordered the City of Longueuil to immediately stop work being carried out in the critical habitat of an endangered species.
Judge Guylaine Baugé therefore ruled in favor of two environmental groups who demanded the temporary suspension of work on the extension of Boulevard Béliveau, which could “alter wetlands in the project area”. These are essential to the Chorus Frog, which has the status of threatened species in Canada and vulnerable in Quebec.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, PRESS ARCHIVES
A chorus frog
The site was authorized by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment under simple declarations of conformity, a less restrictive procedure than a request for ministerial authorization.
Recall that on October 22, the Quebec Center for Environmental Law (CCQDE) and the Quebec section of the Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP) filed a request for a provisional injunction to stop this work, which are carried out in the legally designated critical habitat for that species.
In the decision rendered in the middle of the afternoon, Friday, Judge Baugé “orders the defendant Ville de Longueuil, as well as its employees, representatives, agents, subcontractors, and any person acting in its name or for its account, to suspend the extension work on boulevard Béliveau, in Longueuil, and all other related work on underground water and sewer infrastructures, to be valid until November 8, 2021, at 5 p.m. ”
The court concluded that, failing to order a suspension of work for a period of 10 days, “the Frog’s critical habitat risks being irreparably corrupted, with the consequence of endangering this species. ”