A conservation group criticized Quebec over caribou. So the province cut ties with it

The Quebec government has ended its partnership with a conservation group after it criticized the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks for not doing enough to protect caribou herds.

Action Boréale, based in Val-d'Or, had partnered with the government to develop a strategy to protect the endangered herds in the area. 

The group posted on its Facebook page that Francis Forcier, the director of strategic mandates with the ministry, was responsible for the crisis due to his inaction on the caribou file.

The statement was in reaction to news that the ministry was going to lift a ban on logging operations in three forest ranges in the Lac Saint-Jean area.

The group wanted the public to know why the file wasn't progressing, said Henri Jacob, the president of Action Boréale.

"Unfortunately, people are really camped in their positions," he said. "It doesn't seem like the caribou have a voice at the table."

The ministry responded by severing ties with the group and sending a legal notice demanding that it remove the post.

Ministry calls behaviour 'unacceptable'

In a statement, the ministry said the post was "practically an intimidation attempt" toward one of its employees.

"We are surprised. Surprised — and we find that it's an unacceptable way to characterize this file," said Christian Therrien, the ministry's communications director.

He said that Forcier is a career public servant and that "this stops here." The ministry will move forward with other partners, such as municipalities and universities in the area, as well as industry associations, he said.

Earlier this week, the ministry also criticized a Université du Québec à Rimouski biologist. Prof. Martin-Hugues Saint-Laurent criticized plans to kill wolves as a way to protect the population, suggesting that human activity should be limited in crucial areas instead.

The minister for forests, wildlife and parks, Pierre Dufour, said it was easy for Saint-Laurent to say that "from his ivory tower at the university in Rimouski."

Saint-Laurent did his post-doctoral internship on caribou.

As for Action Boréale, Jacob said the group will continue to work on the file, with or without the ministry's involvement.

But at this rate, he said, he is not optimistic that the caribou herd will survive.

Caribou population dropping

The herd around Val-d'Or, as well as the herd in the Charlevoix region, each have fewer than 30 caribou.

The ministry recently set aside 46,000 hectares for the forestry industry near Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. The space was previously under administrative protection for the caribou.

St-Laurent maintains that the forest industry encroaching on caribou habitat is a "longstanding" problem that needs addressing.

"The government doesn't have a lot of leadership in deciding to conserve swaths of habitat and curb logging," he said.

The Quebec government previously refused to back efforts to save caribou in the region, saying it would be too expensive and the chances of the caribou surviving were slim to none.