The last few days have been overwhelming for many people worried about the future of biodiversity and environmental issues in the greater metropolitan area. The Champ des Monarques has been the subject of a mowing that I will describe as wild, thoughtless and certainly condemnable without detours. Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), tenant of this place, justifies its action by claiming that the land is in an industrial zone and that its responsibilities for “its green spaces” explain the operation. It is not because it is zoned industrial that nature takes it into account. The land, left fallow for ten years, has allowed nature to take back its rights for the well-being of the fauna and flora that have been able to flourish there.
Worse still, ADM maintains its position which is to deny the characteristics of this terrain, although they are widely demonstrated by many observers. According to ADM, this area was not sensitive and did not contain the plants essential to the maintenance of the monarch butterfly. ADM can now repeat these words without problem.
This WMD operation is nothing less than an environmental rampage.
The Transport Canada lessee has conditions in the lease that are nonetheless clear: ADM is responsible for protecting the environment on the leased premises and must comply with applicable environmental laws. The Impact Assessment Act designates ADM as the agency that must enforce this law. The truth is that the Ministers of Transport and the Environment have their share of responsibility in this disaster.
My correspondence with the Minister of the Environment, in the summer of 2021, earned me a response 11 months later. The one addressed to the Minister of Transport (with the Minister of the Environment in certified copy) of November 2021? A response six months later. In this response, Minister Omar Alghabra invites me to raise the subject with the administration of ADM, which I did.
As reported yesterday in these pages, following a visit to the site by an official from the Ministry of the Environment, an investigation will be opened. Is it too little, too late? One thing is certain, the worst was avoidable and quite honestly, it is this federal nonchalance that annoys and disappoints.
The population must understand that the destruction of this space is very serious: considered the last green lung of Montreal, the size of Mount Royal, it is land that must be protected. The terms of the lease between the federal landlord and the ADM tenant must be reviewed without delay. The creation of the Marais des Sources, inaugurated in April 2021, in no way excuses the ransacking carried out in the last few days, but undoubtedly soothes ADM’s conscience…
Shaving 4,000 milkweed plants as well as the vegetation that allows the wildlife to be maintained for a hundred species will weaken or even extinguish their presence for years to come. It is difficult to do “mitigation”, “repair” with what has just been done. At best, we ensure that this federal land is immediately protected by legislative or regulatory measures. In addition, it is worth remembering that it is the volunteer ornithology and horticulture enthusiasts of the Technoparc Oiseaux who will take care of the protection of the new Marais des Sources, not ADM. We also thank them.
What are the responsibilities of the federal Departments of Transportation and the Environment in this destruction? How is it possible that a natural environment of this size, located on federal lands, in a peri-urban zone is ignored in this way, particularly in a context of climate emergency where heat islands are legion? The David Suzuki Foundation had granted the Ville de Montréal the certification “Ville Amie des Monarques — Gold level” (and Ville St-Laurent, the Silver level): the municipal administrations will have grievances towards Ottawa if they lose this status. What will the Minister of the Environment say to the leaders present at COP15 on biodiversity in Montreal at the end of this year? Montrealer moreover, will he still present his government as a “leader”, a “champion” of the protection of the environment and biodiversity?
This government has a serious soul-searching to do, because this fundamental problem stems from the fact that contracts are not updated with the most recent environmental law and we are trying with little fervor to correct the situation, even if this exercise turns out to be relatively uncomplicated. This laxity on the part of Ottawa is also found in other environmental files.
Many of us are outraged. Shame on the federal government.