Even if it still does not have a forest caribou protection strategy and the decline of the species continues, the Legault government describes itself as a “precursor” in the conservation of this threatened deer. In his response to Minister Steven Guilbeault’s request for a meeting to discuss the situation of species at risk, that The duty obtained, Quebec also openly criticizes Ottawa’s interventions on provincial territory.
Nearly a month after receiving a request from the federal Minister of the Environment to hold a meeting on the “critical” situation of caribou and the protection of endangered species, the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parcs, Pierre Dufour, has just responded to the Trudeau government by asserting Quebec sovereignty over the management of species at risk in the province.
“The Government of Quebec has its own legislative and regulatory framework aimed at protecting wildlife species in a precarious situation, including the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species,” he wrote in a three-page letter praising the action of the Legault government. in the protection of endangered species.
At the same time, he criticizes the “emergency decree” adopted by Ottawa last November to stop the destruction of one of the last chorus frog habitats in Quebec. The Quebec Ministry of the Environment had authorized this destruction, necessary to extend a residential boulevard in Longueuil. He had also helped the City to avoid taking into account a wildlife opinion from experts from the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) which was unfavorable to the project.
According to Mr. Dufour, this emergency decree is “an attack on the full exercise of Quebec’s jurisdiction in the protection of biodiversity as well as that aimed at developing its territory by combining economic and social development and the protection of the environment “.
“Precursor”
Steven Guilbeault, who has already openly criticized the management of species at risk by the Legault government, wrote in his letter to Pierre Dufour, sent on January 13, that he was ready to intervene if Quebec did not act, in particular to protect woodland caribou.
Pierre Dufour replies by affirming that his department is a “precursor” in the protection of woodland caribou, despite the absence of a conservation strategy for this cervid and the rejection of protected area projects that would have made it possible to preserve important habitats.
According to the minister, Quebec has put in place “appropriate measures to protect populations, in particular the use of protective and maternity enclosures and the control of predators”. A first was set up in 2020 to keep the last seven Val-d’Or caribou in captivity. The 17 animals that still exist in Charlevoix will also be penned this winter, as well as pregnant females captured among the last 32 caribou in Gaspésie.
Expensive protection
Pierre Dufour also points out that the Legault government “has taken numerous actions to acquire knowledge and multiple efforts to protect populations of forest and mountain caribou and their habitats”. He cites in particular the population monitoring program, which has made it possible to observe the extent of the decline of certain caribou populations.
“In addition, the MFFP carries out several research projects on issues crucial to the conservation of this species in Quebec. The most recent “literature review” produced by the Department emphasizes that “the main threat to woodland and mountain caribou populations in Quebec and Canada are habitat disturbances generated by human activities [des êtres humains] and consequent increased predation”. In this context, “the protection of large tracts of intact habitats and the restoration of disturbed habitats are essential for the maintenance of caribou populations”.
However, the protection of this species, which is also done under the federal government’s Species at Risk Act, has a cost for the Quebec economy, says the minister. The “habitat development plans” mean, among other things, that “Quebec has agreed to deprive itself of the economic benefits associated with the development of nearly 1.4 million cubic meters of wood”.
Mr. Dufour adds that it is the “major socio-economic challenges presented by the conservation of this species” that prompted the Legault government to set up an “independent commission” which will conduct consultations this winter in different regions of the province. This commission does not include any expert in the case. “The strategy will be finalized following the commission’s recommendations and a public and Aboriginal consultation process,” promises the Minister.
Minister Steven Guilbeault’s office has confirmed receipt of Minister Dufour’s letter. “It has been agreed that we will work together and start conversations in view of a ministerial meeting which will take place at the beginning of March,” it was said by email on Thursday.
“The Government of Quebec remains reactive in the file of endangered species, and its response to the federal Minister of the Environment creates a diversion on its inaction and on the continuous decline of several species at risk in the province. Quebec is still doing too little, but it’s not too late to really collaborate with the federal government and modernize the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species,” said the director general of the Société pour la nature et les parcs du Québec. , Alain Branchaud.