SCANDAL AT THE QUEBEC MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

In a stunning development, Quebec’s Ministry of the Environment has admitted in open court that it has never refused a developer’s request for a Certificate of Authorization. Never!!

This admission was made during the Green Coalition’s injunction proceedings to stop the destruction of the Technoparc wetlands. These marshes are home to the largest variety and density of birds on the Island of Montréal and are near the top of the list for the whole province.

The Ministry of the Environment issued Certificates of Authorization permitting development on Technoparc based on bird counts conducted by the developer in the dead of winter, when numbers and varieties are at the lowest possible ebb. The Ministry did not require any other studies, and even tried to keep these ones secret.

The Ministry’s admission reveals a terrible scandal at the heart of our environmental protection bureaucracy. We now know that it works for developers, not for the environment and not for the public.

The Green Coalition demands an immediate public investigation into the Ministry’s procedures for issuing Certificates of Authorization, including a review of the validity of all Certificates already issued and an immediate moratorium on the issuance of new Certificates until the inquiry is finished and the procedures are corrected.

The court hearings on the Green Coalition’s injunction concluded today and the case now awaits judgment. There is still time for the City of Montréal and the Minister of the Environment to do the right thing. The Green Coalition calls on the City to abandon the Technoparc development and reverse the damage already done, and calls on the Minister to rescind the Certificates of Authorization already issued to the developers.