(Ottawa) A subject of discord between Quebec and Ottawa for several months and of political war between the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party for several weeks, the future of the woodland caribou will be the subject of a study by a committee of the House of Commons. The goal of this approach: “find a solution” that would protect this threatened species without devastating the economy of certain regions of Quebec.
The Bloc Québécois has obtained the support of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to call an emergency meeting of the environment committee starting next week to examine this delicate issue.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who is proposing to adopt a decree to protect the woodland caribou despite the Legault government’s outcry, should be one of the first witnesses called.
Representatives of municipalities that depend on the forestry industry will also be heard, as will the leaders of businesses that could have to close their doors if the decree is adopted by Ottawa in the coming weeks, as well as the unions that represent workers, assured Bloc Québécois MP Mario Simard.
The latter stated in an interview with The Press that his party is first and foremost “in solution mode.”
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Bloc Québécois MP Mario Simard
“The Bloc Québécois’ objective is always the same: to find a solution to the thorny issue of caribou. Our position has not changed. We do not believe that the federal government has the right of life or death over Quebec’s natural resources. That is what the Endangered Species Act“This is completely unacceptable. It is up to Quebec to decide what it does with its natural resources,” said Mr. Simard.
The Bloc Québécois MP for Jonquière stressed that the forestry sector in his region “is not in growth mode,” but rather “in survival mode” due to a series of difficult events such as last year’s forest fires, the lumber tariffs imposed by the United States in recent years and the economic slowdown.
For people who work in this sector, this is not the time to add something. And caribou is something that is being added, unfortunately. But we have to find a solution. We can’t back down.
Mario Simard, federal MP for Jonquière
In passing, Mr. Simard criticized Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative MPs for having been content to stir up people’s anger in this matter instead of proposing real solutions. “Saying that Minister Guilbeault is a radical minister does no one any good. […] I have never seen a Conservative call for a study on the forestry sector. What they are interested in is the oil and gas sector. Period.”
Forcing Quebec’s hand
Recently, Minister Guilbeault announced that he was extending the consultation period before imposing any decree by four weeks, until September 15, thereby responding to the request of several Indigenous communities and representatives of the forestry industry, among others.
Mr. Guilbeault maintains that he has no other choice for the moment but to adopt such a decree in order to force Quebec to take the necessary measures to protect the caribou in three distribution areas: Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
But Quebec does not plan to participate in consultation meetings before the emergency decree is adopted. The Legault government believes that the emergency decree represents a “unilateral and illegitimate decision” by Ottawa that could result in the loss of at least 2,000 jobs. Quebec maintains that its own measures to protect the declining species are bearing fruit.