Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Impacts on the natural environment
historical site for instance. Therefore, this federal law does not apply to the lands
covered by the project.
In Quebec, the term ‘‘designated species’’ includes any species designated as
‘‘threatened’’ or ‘‘vulnerable’’ under the Act respecting threatened or vulnerable
species. A species is designated as threatened when it is in an extremely precarious
situation, when the situation will permanently worsen if no initiative is taken to counter
this precariousness and when its extinction is apprehended in a more or less short
term. A vulnerable species is one whose survival is precarious even if its extinction is
not apprehended. However, a regressive evolution of its population or the degradation
of its habitats risks occurring if no measure is taken to ensure species survival 1 .
The Act respecting threatened or vulnerable species guarantees complete protection
to floristic species designated as threatened or vulnerable, by prohibiting among
others the destruction of a specimen of theses species. According to the MDDEP, the
presence of a few individuals of a threatened or vulnerable species would not suffice
in itself to prohibit a project from taking place or to order its cessation. For instance,
the law would allow displacing a population of such a species to avoid its destruction,
taking into account the project’s impacts, the legal status of the plants targeted and
their conservation value (DQ73.1, p. 2). However, one participant is opposed to such
an action:
A great number of conservation organizations are opposed to it as a
compensation measure and consider that the preservation of an endangered
species cannot be dissociated from that of its habitat […] The few studies that
have evaluated the success rate of such a compensation measure reveal in fact
more failures than successes […] The Advisory committee on threatened or
vulnerable flora considers therefore that the relocation of a threatened
species does not represent an acceptable compensation measure.
(Ms. Gisèle Lamoureux, DT34, p. 59 and 60)
The Act also seeks to protect the habitats of floristic species identified in the Act
respecting threatened or vulnerable species [E-12.01, r.0.4], by prohibiting in particular
any activity likely to modify the ecological processes specific to them. Here again
exceptions are proposed, including for activities authorized by the Minister of
Sustainable development, Environment and Parks or by the government (DQ73.1, p. 2).
1. J. Labrecque and G. Lavoie, Les plantes vasculaires menacées ou vulnérables du Québec, ministère de
l’Environnement, Direction du patrimoine écologique et du développement durable, Québec, p. 10-11.
218 Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure