The Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, confirms that the deforestation carried out and planned in the Pipmuacan reservoir sector was inevitable, information refuted by her own ministry.
Posted 6:27pm Updated 6:27pm
The logging rights were granted in 2020, ahead of the submission of the project for the Innu protected area of pessamite, pleaded Maïté Blanchette Vézina during the study of the 2023-2024 budget of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF). ), Tuesday, at the National Assembly.
“We can’t remove […] of rights granted,” she said in response to a question from Liberal opposition forestry critic André Fortin, MNA for Pontiac.
Both claims are partially inaccurate, according to his ministry.
Two different categories of logging are carried out in the Pipmuacan reservoir sector and only one was authorized in 2020 and cannot be canceled, namely logging that comes from an auction organized by the Bureau de mise en marché des bois.
This “work permit” was granted to the Forestra forestry cooperative on July 31, 2020 and is valid until August 31, according to the document that the MNRF sent to La Presse.
The other category of logging is part of the annual program of harvesting activities (PRAN) and is subject to “annual” approval, the regional director for forest management in Saguenay recently explained to La Presse-Lac-Saint-Jean at the MRNF , Claude Belanger.
That permit “expires March 31” and must be renewed if the planned work is not completed, he said.
The Forestra cooperative confirmed to La Presse that the cuts it has made since 2021 and the cuts it will have to make this year fall under both permits.
The MRNF did not respond to La Presse’s request to send it the annual permits granted to Forestra.
Cancellation possible
The MRFN might very well not have renewed or even canceled the annual felling permits for the Innu of Pessamit protected area project, says forest engineer and biologist Louis Bélanger, professor emeritus at Laval University and responsible for the Nature Québec Forest Commission (not related to Claude Bélanger, above cited).
“The ministry can make adjustments at any time” when it comes to an approval granted as part of the annual plan, he says.
The only case in which the Ministry’s hands are tied by a cutting permit is that of a contract awarded through an auction, admits Mr. Bélanger.
“Appropriate” advice?
Minister Blanchette Vézina has also been hounded with questions about Innu comments by Pessamit, who accuse her department of failing to meet their obligation to consult them before approving these cuts.
Instead of the two consultations required by law, only one consultation took place, and that was before the indigenous community had all the relevant information, La Presse reported on Tuesday.
“There were consultations in 2018-2019,” the minister repeated, avoiding saying if he thought it was a “appropriate” consultation, as asked by MP André Fortin.
Minister Blanchette Vézina also reiterated that an area could be cleared as long as it was not officially protected, but assured that her department would make the “necessary adjustments” to the current rights for the cut “if there are protected areas that are designated become “.
“It is important for our government and for me to create protected areas, we also made a commitment at COP15 to protect the territory, we are committed to it, we are working to it,” she said.
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11 km2 area of cuttings undertaken since 2021 and planned this year on the Innu of Pessamit Conservation Project area
Source: Quebec Department of Natural Resources and Forests