Among the features of Québec's twenty-five-year
master plan for the development of its northern territory (the Plan
Nord ), released on May 9, 2011, is the objective of setting aside
no less than 50% of the land mass concerned for non-industrial
purposes by 2035, in order to protect its environment and safeguard
its biodiversity. The total area concerned measures a gigantic
600,000 sq. km. On August 12, the Québec Minister of
Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Pierre Arcand,
unveiled a Working Paper and launched a public consultation process
designed to permit the gradual attainment of that objective,
beginning in the next few years.
The Working Paper is called "The government's
commitment to dedicate 50% of the territory of the Plan Nord to
protecting the environment, safeguarding biodiversity and
developing the natural heritage, as well as to various types of
development that do not rely on industrial activities". The
document is posted on the Ministry's website, with the English
version at http://www.protegerlenord.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/index_en.htm
The Working Paper contemplates creating "protected
areas" covering at least 12% of the Plan Nord territory by
2015. These areas are legally designated expanses of land or water
ensuring the protection and maintenance of biological diversity and
of related natural and cultural resources. The remaining 38% of the
land will be environmentally protected, with its biodiversity
safeguarded, while allowing for various types of non-industrial
development (e.g. tourism, ecotourism, hunting, fishing and
By 2020, at least 5% of the Plan Nord territory will be set
aside as areas for conservation and non-industrial development.
This entails reserving at least another 60,000 sq. km., in addition
to the 12% of land already designated for creating protected areas.
Implementing these measures will enable Québec to meet the
17% land conservation goal set by the Nagoya Protocol of October
2010 to the Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992. In
addition, at least 12% of the "boreal forest blanket"
(part of the boreal zone, containing softwood stands) is to be
reserved for the creation of protected areas by 2015.
Ecological planning will identify areas to be set aside for
conservation or non-industrial development, and greater ecological
knowledge of the territory in question will be acquired. In 2020
and again in 2030, the Working Paper calls for Plan Nord partners
to report on progress and establish new conservation targets, based
on then-current knowledge, as the province moves towards the
ultimate objective of protecting 50% of the land concerned by 2035.
Enterprises and promoters of industrial activities or projects that
result in the loss of biodiversity and ecological services will be
required to implement environmental mitigation, restoration or
Only time will tell whether this planning and consultation
process will succeed in reconciling the objectives of environmental
protection and economic development in developing northern
Ontario's Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change continues to roll out its Climate Change Action Plan with its proposed GHG guide for projects that are subject to the province's Environmental Assessment Act.
The Imperial Oil refinery pled guilty to one offence for discharging a contaminant, coker stabilizer, thermocracked gas, into the natural environment causing an adverse effect and was fined $650,000...
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