The Ministry of the Environment had to intervene to stop the destruction of an important habitat of the chorus frog, after having encountered refusals from the industrial developer who refused to stop work on his site, despite requests from representatives of the government.
In a decision published Thursday, the ministry indicated that it had issued an “order” with regard to the companies Gestion Rosefellow inc., Développements Rosefellow inc., Groupe Maison Candiac inc. and Construgep.
According to information made public, ministry inspectors recently noted that an industrial development project in the territory of Saint-Philippe, in Montérégie, was encroaching on the habitat of the chorus frog, a species designated as threatened under the Law on threatened or vulnerable species.
This project would have required prior obtaining of ministerial authorization. However, the promoters did not have any. But despite the visit of ministry inspectors to the work site and calls to the developer Rosefellow, the ministry did not obtain the collaboration of the company, according to what we can read in the order document.
“Since continuing this work would have the effect of further destroying the habitat of the western chorus frog and causing serious and irreparable harm to the population of this species and the environment, the ministry is using the recourse at its disposal and is now issuing an order against these companies,” it was clarified in a press release.
In its “order”, the Quebec Ministry of the Environment specifies that the site in question “is of great ecological interest” due to the presence of the small amphibian, which has already lost more than 90% of its habitat in Quebec, mainly due to urban sprawl. In this context, continuing the work could downright “hinder its recovery”. The habitats that would be destroyed by the industrial project are in fact considered to be “essential for its reproduction, its feeding, its rest, its movements or its hibernation”.
Destruction
Very close to this site, there are also chorus frog habitats which were protected following an intervention by decree from the federal government.
Despite the existence of this decree, Environment and Climate Change Canada announced last December that Les Entreprises Antoine Stabile et fils pleaded guilty to one count of violating the prohibitions provided for in this emergency decree. Concretely, this company specializing in services related to construction sites circulated heavy machinery in the fall of 2022 in an area located in La Prairie and protected by a decree since 2016.
In 2022, Hydro-Québec was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 for violating the Species at Risk Act by carrying out work directly in the tree frog’s critical habitat in La Prairie. The State Corporation had also violated the federal decree.
The City of Longueuil also announced in 2023 its intention to complete construction work on a road section which had been stopped in 2021 because it destroyed one of the last habitats of the chorus frog. The Legault government had also authorized this project, despite an opinion from its experts warning of the effects on wildlife.
In an assessment of “threats” dated March 2021, Quebec government experts sounded the alarm, emphasizing that less than 25% of the populations present in Quebec will be able to survive, unless a curbs are placed on growing threats. “Consequently, the conservation actions planned for [leur] recovery must at least make it possible to protect and restore » breeding sites.