Two Quebecers were fined a combined $65,000 for destroying bank swallow nests, considered a species at risk in Canada, during mining work in Mont-Joli.
Sébastien Pouliot and Yves Thibeault were fined $60,000 and $5,000 respectively by the Court of Quebec on Tuesday.
They both pleaded guilty at the Mont-Joli courthouse to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations, under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994.
After a report from citizens, law enforcement officers opened an investigation in June 2022 concerning the destruction of bank swallow nests near the Mont-Joli airport.
“The agents then discovered that Sébastien Pouliot and Yves Thibeault had destroyed bank swallow nests between May 20 and June 15, 2022, during exploitation work on a mound of earth where a colony of bank swallows shore was nesting,” explained the Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Bank swallows tend to nest in burrows dug in exposed soil and are sometimes found on construction sites where there are vertical embankments.
This bird is a species protected by law since it threatens to disappear, while its population has decreased by 98% over the last 40 years in Canada.