Landscaping company 9242-6451 Québec inc. and its owner were ordered to pay a total fine of $12,500 for violating the Species at Risk Act

LONGUEUIL, QC, Nov. 15, 2024 /CNW/ - Across the country, enforcement officers from Environment and Climate Change Canada enforce laws and regulations that ensure the protection and conservation of wildlife and its habitat. Their work aims to reduce the threats and harm caused to biodiversity.

On November 14, 2024, at the Longueuil courthouse, landscaping company 9242-6451 Québec inc. pleaded guilty to one count of violating the prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Western Chorus Frog Great Lakes / St. Lawrence—Canadian Shield Population (Longueuil), in violation of the Species at Risk Act. Patrice Poupart, the company's owner, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the same Act. The company was ordered to pay a fine of $7,500, and Poupart $5,000. The total amounts will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund and will support projects that have a positive impact on Canada's natural environments.

In the summer of 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers launched an investigation after being informed of grass cutting in the area covered by the Emergency Order. They found that 9242-6451 Québec inc. and Poupart had mowed approximately 1,650 m² of grass and driven a tractor in the protected area. In so doing, the company and its owner violated subsection 2(1) of the Emergency Order.

A violation of the provisions of an emergency order constitutes an offence under the Species at Risk Act. The Emergency Order prohibits the removal, pruning, mowing, damaging, destroying, or introducing any vegetation. It also prohibits the use of a vehicle anywhere other than on a road or paved path. The Act prohibits killing or harming a wildlife species listed as threatened, as well as damaging or destroying the residence of one or more individuals.

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Quick facts

• The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence—Canadian Shield population of the western chorus frog has been listed as threatened in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act since 2010.
• On November 20, 2021, the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Western Chorus Frog came into effect in the municipality of Longueuil, Quebec. The area that the order applies corresponds to approximately 20 hectares of land encompassing the extension of Béliveau Boulevard and the area of potential residential subdivision development.
• The prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order aim to prevent the degradation or loss of the habitat needed by the western chorus frog for its recovery, and to prevent activities that could harm the species.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada administers the Environmental Damages Fund, which is a Government of Canada program that was created in 1995. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or benefit the environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.

Associated links

• Western Chorus Frog Great Lakes / St. Lawrence—Canadian Shield Population (Longueuil): Emergency Order Summary
• About the Species at Risk Act
• Environmental Damages Fund

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

Contacts: Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]