Ottawa would be endangering jobs with decree to protect caribou, Quebec says

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QUEBEC — The Legault government is blasting Ottawa over its plan to adopt a decree aimed at protecting Quebec’s dwindling caribou herds.

Thousands of forestry jobs and the livelihoods of many small villages could be lost if the federal government proceeds with such a decree without considering the economic impact of its actions, said Benoit Charette, Quebec’s minister of the environment, arriving for a meeting of the Quebec cabinet Wednesday.

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“We can only qualify Ottawa’s approach to this issue as irresponsible,” Charette said. “We calculate many thousands of jobs will be compromised. What renders this thing even more unrealistic is that if you compare Quebec to what is being done in the other provinces, we are doing the most for the caribou.”

On hand for the news conference, Canadian Relations Minister Jean-François Roberge had choice words.

“We have a detailed knowledge of the situation, tree by tree, region by region, when it comes to tourist development and forestry,” Roberge said. “We did our homework.

“It makes no sense for Ottawa to arrive with an ultimatum; where they do not have the knowledge on the ground that we have, where it has not at all evaluated the economic impact of its actions. What we need is not an additional ultimatum. It is a hand to better do what we are doing well.”

The two ministers were reacting to a letter sent to Charette by the federal minister of the environment and climate change, Steven Guilbault.

Guilbault informed Quebec that he is recommending that the federal cabinet adopt an emergency decree that would help stabilize the struggling caribou herds in Charlevoix, Val d’Or and Pipmuacan.

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The herds in the first two communities are considered on life support, living in captivity, while the herd in Pipmuacan will reach a critical level within 10 years, Ottawa says.

Guilbault targeted the forestry industry in his letter, obtained by Radio-Canada, saying the “forestry operations and the networks of roads they use have largely contributed to the disturbance of the habitat in regions where the species lives.”

If such a decree is approved, it would not be automatically adopted. Ottawa will first have to consult and determine which habitat is necessary to ensure the survival of the three populations.

Charette said he found that fact ironic considering Quebec just completed such a consultation process, discovering deep concerns in the population about the economic impact of such rules.

To reporters, he confirmed the content of a document obtained by La Presse revealing between 2,400 and 30,000 direct and indirect jobs would be lost if Ottawa proceeds with the decree and isolates various herds from development.

The document, produced by the ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, outlines two scenarios.

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In the case where the decree covers the three specific regions, Val d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, the loss in forestry products would be 1.1 million cubic metres a year, representing $183.2 million in goods and a net loss of 2,400 jobs.

If the decree was to cover all of the territory where caribou are present, the loss of forestry products would be 14 million cubic metres a year, representing total losses of $2.2 billion a year and 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“If we put a glass dome on these regions, we literally threaten the economic development if not the very survival of villages,” Charette told reporters. “The wall-to-wall approach of the federal government makes no sense.”

He defended Quebec’s efforts to help the species. In April, Charette announced plans to invest $59.5 million to implement projects to protect caribou with plans to hold regional consultations in Charlevoix and Gaspésie.

Guilbault has said the Quebec government made a commitment in 2019 to put in place a plan to rebuild the populations, yet studies show the decline continues.

pauthier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/philipauthier

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