Riverkeeper sets new deadline for federal action on Petitcodiac

The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper has set a new deadline of June 10 for the federal government to start work on restoring the New Brunswick riveror it will go to court to force the issue.

"We have sensitized the public. We have raised public awareness. We have promoted the river's social, cultural and economic values, and we have worked the bureaucratic and political channels — all of this in vain,"said Michel Desjardin, chair of the Riverkeeper organization.

"We have still no results to show for it. So court action is our last resort."

A lawyer for the group, Michel Doucet, said he would likely go to court to ask for a judicial review, rather than suing the government.

"The only evidence will be paper evidence on the basis of various reports being produced, and the affidavits that have been filed by each party.

"The Federal Court will decide if they will order that mandamus [a writ compelling an action] forcing the federal minister of fisheries to abide by the Fisheries Act," Doucet said.

He said the federal government has an obligation to make sure the causeway at Moncton doesn't impede the passage of fish.

The group had already given the government a 45-day deadline, which has come and gone.

The Petitcodiac, located in southeastern New Brunswick, was ranked number1 on an environmentalists' list of the most-endangered rivers in the country in 2003.

Failure to remove a provincially owned causeway built between Moncton and Riverview in 1968, and replace it with a bridge, has clogged the river's powerful tidal bore, the accompanying report said.

The Riverkeeper is a non-profit group with the goal of restoring the ecological health of the Petitcodiac.

Desjardin said a 2001 study proved the causeway spanning the river impedes fish passage, and this is a violation of the Fisheries Act.

The provincial Department of Supply and Services said it's working on choosing one of four options, and should be able to make a decision by the end of June.

But, a spokesperson said, even if that happens, the province will need a lot of financial help from the federal government to complete the project.