Piscines Caravelle SM3 Inc. and Les excavations G.S.R.P. & Frères Inc. were ordered to pay a total fine of $10,000 for violating the Species at Risk Act

LONGUEUIL, QC, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Across the country, wildlife enforcement officers from Environment and Climate Change Canada enforce laws and regulations that ensure the protection and conservation of wildlife and its habitat. They work to reduce threats and harm to biodiversity for the benefit of Canadians and all living things.

On March 23, 2023, at the Longueuil courthouse, Piscines Caravelle SM3 Inc. and Les excavations G.S.R.P. & Frères Inc. each pleaded guilty to one count of violating prohibitions under the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Western Chorus Frog—Great Lakes / St. Lawrence–Canadian Shield Population (the Emergency Order), contrary to the Species at Risk Act. The companies were ordered to pay individual fines of $5,000. The total amount of $10,000 will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada.

On May 20, 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada wildlife enforcement officers responded to a report of work being done in the Emergency Order area in Candiac. At the scene, officers found that a fence separating the property line of a private residence from an area under an Emergency Order had been partially removed.  The two named companies were going through the area under the Emergency Order, by way of the partially removed fence, to access the property of a private residence, to facilitate the installation of an in-ground pool. The presence of an excavator used to install the pool was also observed in the Emergency Order area.

The investigation revealed that between May 15 and May 20, 2021, Piscines Caravelle SM3 Inc. and Les excavations G.S.R.P. & Frères Inc. damaged the habitat necessary for the recovery of the Western Chorus Frog by using heavy machinery, contrary to 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 operation of motor vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, machinery, etc., other than on roads or paved paths. The Species at Risk Act prohibits killing or harming a wildlife species that is listed as threatened, or damaging or destroying its habitat.

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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 June 22, 2016, the Government of Canada announced an emergency order to protect the Western Chorus Frog in the municipalities of La Prairie, Candiac, and Saint-Philippe, near Montréal, Quebec. The Order's geographic area is approximately 2 km2 of partially developed land, a portion of which includes land that is part of Smitter's Marsh Conservation Park.
• The prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order aim to prevent the degradation or loss of habitat needed by the Western Chorus Frog for its recovery, and to prevent activities that could harm the species.

Associated links

• Western Chorus Frog—Great Lakes / St. Lawrence–Canadian Shield Population: Emergency Protection Order Summary
  
  
  
• About the Species at Risk Act

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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]