If it does indeed go ahead with its emergency decree to protect caribou, Ottawa will have to “bear the burden” of at least 2,000 job losses, warns the Quebec government, which will not participate in the consultations surrounding the development of these measures.
Quebec’s Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, and Minister of Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, warned federal Minister Steven Guilbeault of this on Wednesday morning, in a long letter denouncing his decision to move forward.
“Your government’s approach […] constitutes an unspeakable affront and is in opposition to respect for the sharing of constitutional powers between the levels of government,” they wrote.
Last month, Justin Trudeau’s federal government began a 60-day consultation exercise with stakeholders to finalize the implementation of its decree, which aims to protect the Pipmuacan, Val-d’Or and Charlevoix herds. The latter two have been living in captivity in enclosures for several years.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is particularly concerned about the impact of logging on the recovery of these herds.
However, by studying its decree, Ottawa is directly threatening the industry, thunder the elected representatives of the Quebec government in their letter, citing the potential losses of 1.4 million cubic metres. “The projected drop of 1.4 million cubic metres of wood per year would cause, according to our estimates, the loss of a minimum of 2,000 jobs, and this, only for the projected temporary zones,” they wrote.
“We consider that these job losses are far from marginal since they would be concentrated in regions with little diversity in terms of economic activities and in which reclassification is often impossible,” they continued. “Your government should thus bear the odium of bringing more than 2,000 families into precariousness.”
Further details will follow.