Before being appointed Minister responsible for wildlife, Benoit Charette authorized the City of Laval to destroy wetlands that were habitat for six species at risk in order to allow the realization of an urban development project. A government expert opinion was produced before the authorizations were granted, but the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks refused to send it to the To have to.
In order to be able to launch the infrastructure construction work necessary for the planned real estate development on either side of Lévesque Boulevard, in the east of the city, Laval has submitted authorization requests to the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) and the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC).
The MFFP thus says that it “collaborated in the analysis of the project”, which plans to cut back on another green space on Île Jésus, but also on the coast of the Rivière des Prairies. The Department has not itself carried out an inventory of the wildlife species present in the sector. This was done either by the promoter or by Ville de Laval.
However, the MFFP biologists were able to “draw up an adequate portrait of the situation” based on this inventory, but also on data already available. Government experts have even produced an “opinion”, which makes it possible to specify what the project’s impacts on wildlife, in particular on endangered species, would be. The ministry refused to send it to the To have tospecifying that it “is not public”.
Following this notice, Ville de Laval obtained “SEG permits” from the MFFP. These allow “the capture and handling of animals”. In this specific case, “these permits are aimed at the application of the impact mitigation measures requested in the wildlife advisory and the authorization of the MFFP”, indicates the ministry. At least one “at risk” species has therefore been moved to allow for urban development work.
It was also possible to learn that “several species of fish with a precarious status” are known to frequent the Rivière des Prairies, but they were not detected “near the work area and the site”. On the site where work is already underway, there are no less than six threatened species, five of which have status under the federal government’s Species at Risk Act.
Despite the presence of these species, whose habitat has been considerably reduced over the years due to urban sprawl, the proponent was able to obtain “ministerial authorization” from the MELCC, therefore from Minister Benoit Cart. This was issued following “the analysis of the documents and information provided by the applicant” as part of his request and “after the MELCC obtained satisfactory answers to all its questions, in particular on the implementation implementation of mitigation measures that reduce the impact of the project on the environment”.
As part of this project, Laval has decided to pay approximately $265,000 to compensate for the destruction of wetlands, as permitted by the Act respecting the conservation of wetlands and bodies of water, which should normally put an end to the loss of these critical ecosystems. .
A town planning code
The work is taking place at a time when Ville de Laval says it wants to provide more oversight for land use planning. Since May 2020, it has been in the process of adopting a by-law to protect “wetlands of interest”. These have also been mapped. However, the site north of Lévesque Boulevard, which serves as a habitat for endangered species, does not appear there. However, in an impact study produced by the City itself, part of the site — with an area of 3.7 hectares (37,000 m2) — is presented as “a complex of swamps bordered by marshes”.
Laval recently adopted a new town planning code which, moreover, has not yet entered into force. Consequently, the urban planning regulations that govern development still date from 1970. As described, the new regulations to come are intended to protect natural environments to allow “Laval residents to have access to quality green spaces, in addition to preserving ecological corridors”.
New projects will also have to limit parking spaces, restrict heat islands and integrate ecological equipment, such as geothermal systems or green roofs.
Developers will have to comply with new requirements by integrating “landscape facilities of superior environmental quality” to ensure the retention of water, “rather than its treatment in municipal infrastructures”.