Quebec's agricultural zone poorly monitored, infractions not punished: report

Birds scatter as a farmer aerates the soil on a farm in Notre-Dame-de-l'Ile-Perrot, west of Montreal, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (Graham Hughes, The Canadian Press)

Quebec's agricultural territory is at risk, and offenders continue to cause damage with impunity, a new report claims.

Sustainable Development Commissioner Janique Lambert presented her annual report on Thursday, focusing on agricultural practices and land protection.

She noted that the Commission de protection agricole du Québec (CPTAQ) provided "insufficient and ineffective" surveillance of the agricultural zone, which was based almost exclusively on the infractions it received.

That means "CPTAQ is unable to detect infractions that are not reported to it."

The commission is also "dependent on the ability of citizens and municipalities to detect infractions," Lambert pointed out in her report.

However, some offences have "disastrous" consequences for farmland, warned the Commissioner.

"In Mirabel, thousands of tonnes of waste were buried under farmland, while a former sand pit in Sainte-Marie-Salomé was illegally backfilled with potentially contaminated material," she wrote.

In addition, "denunciations rarely make it possible to limit damage to agricultural land since they concern offences that took place, sometimes a long time ago, and which may have harmed the resource."

"For example, a 1.5-hectare cut had already been made in a maple grove when the report was received. It takes an average of 40 years for a sugar maple to produce maple syrup," noted the commissioner.

However, CPTAQ orders are "not very dissuasive since they are not accompanied by any coercive means" as only a contempt of court judgment rendered by the Superior Court can give rise to possible sanctions.

Between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2023, CPTAQ did not forward any files to the Attorney General or use penal sanctions provided for in the law.

However, CPTAQ recorded 116 infractions involving the removal of topsoil or the cutting of maple trees.

"These could potentially have been the subject of fines. It is distressing to note that this situation is similar to that found by the Auditor General in 1994," said the commissioner.

In her report, Lambert also criticized the delays in processing infractions: some 21 per cent of complaints received more than five years ago are still in progress.

Nearly 90 investigation files have been in progress for more than 10 years.

In her view, "such delays weaken CPTAQ's credibility in its supervisory role."

"Although it has the power to do so, CPTAQ has not recommended any improvements to the minister that would make its surveillance of the agricultural zone more effective, such as changes to sanctions," she wrote.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 25, 2024.