The Minister of the Environment of Quebec, Benoit Charrette, does not rule out sanctioning CN for backfilling without authorization wetlands in Longueuil, which sheltered one of the last habitats of the chorus frog, an endangered species. For its part, Environment Canada replies that it had no authorization to issue to the railway company.
Posted at 8:06 p.m.
“We are potentially considering formal sanctions [contre le CN] “, reacted the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC), Benoit Charette, during a scrum on Wednesday morning.
The Press revealed Wednesday that Canadian National (CN) infilled a wetland in August 2021 without authorization to store materials. However, there was also one of the last habitats of the chorus frog, which has the status of threatened species in Canada and vulnerable in Quebec.
CN says it “was not aware that this wetland could be designated as sensitive species habitat”. However, the Darveau marsh in Longueuil has been identified in the federal recovery program for the species since 2015. And since 2003, volunteers have been going there every year for spring inventories of the chorus frog, a small frog that measures less than 3 cm.
Minister Charette described CN’s response as “deplorable”. “That’s not an excuse in itself. It is a site of interest that has been known for several years. They didn’t have permission to do what they did. They will have to bear the consequences of their actions. »
At the end of the evening, Minister Charette’s office reported to The Press that he was counting “on the company to rehabilitate the land quickly”. The Department also asked CN to submit “a corrective action plan.”
The office of federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, contented itself with a brief comment. “Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) was recently made aware of the situation. The sector targeted by the activity [du CN] is neither federal land nor covered by a protection order made under the Species at Risk Act. ECCC therefore had no authorization to issue. »
“It’s very disappointing,” said Tommy Montpetit, director of conservation at Ciel et Terre. If we don’t do anything quickly, this species will die out. »
“We have reached a critical point for the survival of this species, adds the one who has campaigned for the protection of the chorus frog for more than 25 years. If a poacher kills moose without a permit, we will quickly fine him. But for a species at risk, our two departments of the environment pass the buck and in the meantime, nothing happens. »
According to Alain Branchaud, Executive Director of the Society for Nature and Parks in Quebec, “this umpteenth destruction of chorus frog habitat in Montérégie illustrates the current shortcomings in the protection of our species at risk. To quickly protect all the habitats necessary for the survival and recovery of the species, it will take a good deal of political will and a concerted effort by municipalities and the provincial and federal governments,” he concludes.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press