Lawyers considering suing Quebec over lack of environmental registry

Lawyers are talking about suing the Quebec government if it does not set up the public registry of environmental information required by law.

The Quebec Environmental Law Centre (CQDE) warns that it will use all legal means to ensure that the public registry of environmental information is implemented.

"If we have to go to court, that's what we'll do. The stakes are too high for this registry to remain a dead letter," said CQDE lawyer Marc Bishai.

A month ago, in an open letter signed by 80 environmental organizations and public figures, the CQDE asked the government to commit, within 30 days, to implement this registry in 2023.

The CQDE is upset that the government has thus far refused to make a real commitment to implement it.

"The situation is unacceptable," said CQDE interim executive director Caroline Poussier. "We have been confronted with the government's inertia for the past five years, despite the strong mobilization of civil society and organizations from multiple sectors."

REGISTER PROVIDED FOR IN THE EQA

The Environment Quality Act (EQA) has been in force since March 23, 2018. Section 118.5 of this law stipulates that the Minister of the Environment must keep a public register containing a range of information on industrial projects and activities.

For example, the register must contain the description and source of contaminants caused by a project, the type of release into the environment, or the conditions that a proponent must meet, prohibitions and specific standards applicable to the carrying out of the activity.

Five years after the law came into force, the register that is supposed to record the ministerial authorizations applied for or granted still does not exist.

"A person who wants to know if his or her right to a healthy environment is respected must currently go through an access to information request. There are deadlines associated with that," said lawyer Marc Bishai. "It's a process that sometimes requires them to go before the access to information commission, and that causes further delays.

"These are processes that are not obvious to the average person when the government had committed to making all information available at the click of a button, directly online."

INFORMATION WITH A PUBLIC CHARACTER

In August 2022, after several weeks of media hype over the Horne smelter case in Rouyn-Noranda, the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change unveiled a list of 89 companies that were subject to a ministerial authorization to operate an industrial establishment, also known as a "clean-up certificate."

The documents revealed that eight companies were allowed to contravene environmental standards on discharges to air, water and land.

The documents indicated, among other things, the type of pollutant that was discharged by these companies and the frequency and quantity of the discharges.

This information is considered public information under the Environmental Quality Act, and the registry would allow immediate access to it without a request.

The Canadian Press asked the Ministry of the Environment for a response to the CQDE's latest release but did not get a reply.

However, a month ago, minister Benoit Charette sent this explanation to the news agency.

"Several steps have been taken to improve the online service at the MELCCFP and let's point out that, since 2018, the Environmental Assessment Registry, the Protected Areas Registry and air quality data are available," he said. "On the other hand, we are aware that there is still work to be done, and that is why I have asked my ministry's teams to present me with a timetable for the rapid completion of the online registry, which, let's not forget, will allow for better dissemination of information to the public."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 27, 2023.