Ottawa could adopt a decree this week imposing measures to protect the habitat of the woodland caribou in Quebec, where it “faces imminent threats to its recovery.”
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault informed his Quebec counterpart Benoit Charette on Monday morning that he had come to the conclusion that “the scope of the measures currently implemented or planned to protect or restore the habitat of the species [in Quebec] is considered insufficient” to counter the main threats facing the large deer.
Ottawa’s analysis concludes that caribou habitat “has continued to degrade and populations to decline in at least five ranges,” and that three of these populations face a particularly high degree of risk, namely those of Val-d’Or, Charlevoix and Pipmuacan, straddling the North Shore and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
“Under the Species at Risk Act, I must now recommend to the Governor in Council to adopt an emergency decree to protect the boreal caribou,” writes Minister Guilbeault.
Such a decree could be adopted as soon as the council of ministers meeting scheduled for Tuesday, sources familiar with the matter told La Presse, information which was not confirmed by Minister Guilbeault’s office.
Further details will follow.
