In response to the alert launched by scientists, the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, ensures that the development of agricultural lands in Quebec will not be done without taking into account the poor health of waterways. The opposition, for its part, called on him to listen to the expertise of his own ministry, while rivers in agricultural areas are still in very bad shape.
The duty revealed Thursday morning that officials from the Ministry of the Environment are under political pressure to modernize the Agricultural Operations Regulation (REA), which since 2004 has prescribed a moratorium on agricultural development in areas with excessively polluted waters. These scientists deplore having to comply with “orders from the authorities” to open up agricultural land, as is written in black and white in internal documents that we have consulted.
Scientific data shows that the rivers in the catchment areas under the moratorium to be lifted are still very degraded despite a 20-year pause, they argue. We should even add certain areas where bodies of water are going from bad to worse.
In the press scrum, Minister Charette did not deny wanting the moratorium to be withdrawn, but he denied that this action was taken to the detriment of the environment. “In no way do we want to reduce environmental requirements,” he repeated. Our commitment to agricultural producers is to reduce the administrative burden. »
“The Ministry of Agriculture has asked us to consider some modifications. We are evaluating them,” he replied when asked if officials are in agreement with these changes. He then promised that the changes that will be proposed will be “subject to consultations”.
Political reactions
“There seems to be a worrying trend towards political pressure, as we saw in the Northvolt issue,” noted Virginie Dufour, spokesperson for the official opposition on environmental issues. “Civil servants should be able to have their independence and that worries me a lot,” said the Liberal MP. She also said that farmers “do not have the necessary support”, that the “burden” cannot be solely on their shoulders.
An official from the Ministry of the Environment who had denounced political pressure in the Northvolt case, Ghislain Côté, resigned last April. In an internal letter, he deplored that the authorization granted by the ministry to Northvolt to destroy dozens of wetlands was a “government order”.
“I think we must let people within the Ministry of the Environment do their job of assessing environmental impacts without pressure from other colleagues or other forces,” said solidarity elected official Alejandra. Zaga Mendez, also spokesperson for his party on the matter. She also stressed that we must “cut the evil at the root”, since the agricultural territory is under different pressures, notably speculative: “If we put pressure on this type of agricultural land, it is because elsewhere we are eating away at the land. »
Minister Charette is the “vassal of the Minister of the Economy,” proclaimed Joël Arseneau, spokesperson for the Parti Québécois on the environment. He has not yet “proven” his desire to “become the watchdog of the environment in Quebec,” he continued. “I say to the minister: you have to do your job to protect the environment, but listen to the science at the start. »
In defense of farmers
The Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne, said he was rather looking for “ways” so that farmers with exemplary practices could “have the right to increase their cultivation”. “We really have farmers who have implemented ways of working which are exceptional, which are beneficial and which meet the objectives set by the Sustainable Agriculture Plan”, the PAD, he explained.
Launched in 2020, this plan aims in particular to double the developed agricultural areas, such as riparian strips. These three-meter buffer spaces between cultivated fields and waterways serve to filter what is released and are favorable to biodiversity. However, these riparian strips are little respected in the agricultural sector, due to lack of financial compensation and monitoring.
“If we have not been able to establish riparian buffers for more than 20 years, how will we do it in the coming years? » summarized one of our sources within the Ministry of the Environment, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job. Pesticide sales in Quebec are also moving further and further away from the goal cited in the PAD, as demonstrated by the most recent report.
As for the watersheds listed as degraded in 2004, none of these places has fallen below the threshold set by Quebec in 20 years. In small and medium-sized watersheds, the situation has even gotten worse, explained Professor Stéphane Campeau to Duty.