The mowing of a wasteland by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) where a community group had identified 4,000 milkweed plants that serve as food for monarch butterflies will be the subject of a meeting requested by the federal transport minister.
Updated yesterday at 7:57pm.
Nicolas Bérubé The press
“Our government plans to hold a meeting soon between the minister and the airport to discuss the situation,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra’s office told La Presse on Tuesday.
According to the company, Minister Alghabra “has already written directly to the CEO of ADM to express his concerns, to request details of next steps in this file and to reaffirm the urgency of the situation. Our office is conducting weekly follow-ups with ADM to learn more about their plan and urge them to move this file forward.”
The Company notes that over the past year, ADM has created spaces for monarch butterflies at Sources Ecological Park near Montreal-Trudeau Airport. “This is a good start, but we reiterate to ADM that more needs to be done. The property is owned by the Ministère des Transports, which has been leased to ADM since 1992.
Dissatisfied elected officials
ADM’s statements regarding the recent mowing of a vast natural environment the size of 10 football fields and rich in biodiversity do not please Quebec officials, who are elected, who are urging the federal government to act quickly to protect this “urban lung”. to protect, the last large unprotected green space on the island of Montreal.
“While Quebecers celebrated Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Aéroports de Montréal mowed,” said Marwah Rizqy, provincial MP for Saint-Laurent, at a press conference on Tuesday.
Ms Rizqy noted that it was “wrong” to say the mowed area had no environmental value. “To walk locally, there’s really a lot of birds, a lot of biodiversity,” she said.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY TECHNOPARC OISEAUX
The “Monarchfeld” before the cut
The 19-hectare area mowed by ADM is part of a massive 200-hectare green zone adjacent to Montreal-Trudeau Airport and “the size of Mount Royal Park,” she added.
“It’s one of the last fields and serves to mitigate the heat islands that we’re seeing all over Montreal. The federal government wants to create 15 parks per province by 2030 and for Montreal it’s the ideal place to do it, it’s the last place we can do that. If nothing is done, we will miss this opportunity. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY TECHNOPARC OISEAUX
The “Monarchfeld” after the cut
Alexandre Boulerice, Member of Parliament for Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie and Vice President of the New Democratic Party (NDP), recalled that ADM’s main mission was to run an airport.
“So you find your passengers’ luggage, and after that you take care of wetlands and green spaces for the welfare of birds and monarchs,” he quipped.
The office of German Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault did not respond to La Presse’s request for comment on Tuesday.