Montreal, December 6, 2021—SNAP Québec and the Centre Québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) announced the end of legal procedures for the Béliveau extension in the Longueuil case. This construction project threatened essential chorus frog habitat. On October 22, the two organizations filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with the Federal Court, and filed an appeal with Québec Superior Court to immediately stop the construction.

“We are pleased to say that we achieved our goal: the construction stopped on October 29 and the federal government issued an order under the Species at Risk Act on November 22,” said the CQDE and SNAP.  However, the essential habitat for the chorus frog in Longueuil and across Québec still needs to be protected, as a similar threat could reappear in the future. The essential frog habitat remains unprotected.

The CQDE and SNAP Québec wish to make the following recommendations to the relevant authorities:

1- The City of Longueuil, the province of Québec and Canada must work together to take appropriate corrective actions to avoid excessive land drainage, and to not compromise the reproduction of the species in the spring of 2022.

2- Encouraging the City of Longueuil to hold a forum early Winter with involved parties to develop a roadmap to ensure the protection of all essential chorus frog habitat in Longueuil.

3- The Québec government must reassess the protection of threatened or endangered species, including on private land.

4- The government of Canada is not taking full advantage of the tools provided under the Species at Risk Act. The government needs to seriously consider the safety net provided under section 61 and the stewardship agreements provided under section 11 to protect parts of essential habitats such as in Longueuil.

The two organizations welcome the leadership of the provincial and federal government which took action to protect the chorus frog in this case. They will continue to closely follow the developments of the situation, and will not hesitate to bring other legal actions if other projects threaten the recovery or sustainability of species at risk. 

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Photo credits: Patrick R. Bourgeois