Faced with the lack of protection of woodland caribou habitat in Quebec, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, recommended in 2023 that the Trudeau government impose it by decree. The federal government then refused to move forward, but the First Nations are now demanding its intervention, in the absence of a strategy to save the deer.
Information on the order recommendation and its refusal can be found in a “statement” posted online on July 21, 2023 on the federal register of species at risk and specifies the “Government of Canada approach” to habitat protection. essential for caribou in Quebec. These went unnoticed at the time of their publication.
According to what we can read there, the Canadian “recovery plan” for the species provides that the provinces are responsible for developing and implementing “range plans in order to establish a clear and credible path forward to ensure conditions that promote the self-sufficiency of populations.”
This means in particular that Quebec has the obligation to protect at least 65% of the habitat of each of the 16 populations in the province from the disturbance of human activity, in particular the forestry industry.
However, following an assessment of the situation, Minister Guilbeault concluded in January 2023 that “almost all of the critical habitat” of the province’s woodland caribou “is not effectively protected.” According to available estimates, this represents at least 35,000 km2 of forest territories.
Decree refused
In the context where the minister was then required to recommend to the federal government to decree protective measures, under the Species at Risk Act, Steven Guilbeault wrote to the Quebec Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, to inform of the situation.
He subsequently publicly repeated his intention to reach “a negotiated agreement” with Quebec, and not to proceed by decree. But at the end of spring, Minister Guilbeault “recommended the issuance of a decree to protect all unprotected parts of the essential habitat of the boreal caribou located outside federal territory”, that is to say outside federal lands.
The July 2023 statement, however, indicates that “the Government of Canada has refused to issue an order at this time.” It then specified that it wanted to favor “a collaborative approach”, in order to implement “ambitious measures”. The government also underlined its desire to finance “conservation and recovery measures”, as Quebec is demanding.
In an email in response to questions from Duty, Steven Guilbeault’s office today reiterates its desire to enforce the provisions of the federal recovery plan for the species. “The Government of Canada expects the Government of Quebec to respect its commitment to reduce the rate of disturbance to reach 65% undisturbed habitat in the range of each of the boreal and mountain caribou populations of the Gaspésie as announced in 2022.”
“We are analyzing the regional plans proposed by Quebec and will have more to say about the future in the coming weeks,” we add, without further specifying the options that will be evaluated by Ottawa.
No strategy
It must be said that instead of the provincial strategy promised for five years, the Legault government announced on Tuesday “consultations” for the addition of protection measures for a population of caribou on the North Shore, but also for those of Charlevoix and those of Gaspésie.
Quebec has not given any timetable for the presentation of a plan that would meet the demands of the federal government, while inviting Ottawa to finance part of the conservation measures for the threatened species.
Would the Quebec government oppose the imposition of a decree to protect woodland caribou by the Canadian government? “Yes,” simply replies the office of the Minister of the Environment of Quebec, Benoit Charette.
While judging that Minister Guilbeault’s recommendation in 2023 “was really not strategic”, the general director of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, Alain Branchaud, believes that the time has come to act. “In the current context of the submission of a partial caribou strategy in Quebec, it would be wise to again recommend a protection decree, but to do so in a surgical and measured manner by targeting areas under high pressure sheltering populations of caribou in the edge of the abyss,” he argues.
According to him, “such a measure would have the effect of quickly stopping the degradation of habitats and increasing the chances of survival of these herds. It would also be an incentive to get the Quebec government to quickly table a complete caribou strategy.”
His organization recommends in particular a decree for the protection of the Pipmuacan caribou population, whose habitat has been severely degraded by the forestry industry. This included barely 225 animals, at best, during the most recent inventory, carried out in 2020 over a territory of more than 28,000 km2. “The population is in an extremely precarious state and its capacity for self-sufficiency is unlikely under current conditions,” the government experts concluded.
The leaders of nine Innu communities are also urging the federal government to act to “bring the government of Quebec to order” and prevent the disappearance of the caribou on their territories. Same story with the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, which is demanding intervention from Ottawa, in the name of respecting their “rights and interests”, due to the cultural and historical importance of the caribou. “In the event of a situation where nothing is done, it is undeniable that the First Nations will take action to counteract the latent behavior of Quebec,” adds the group, in a press release.