The National Capital Commission has been fined $75,000 for violating the Species At Risk Act by disrupting the critical habitat of the endangered Western Chorus Frog during a bicycle path project in Gatineau, Quebec. Blacklock's Reporter says federal inspectors reported that rock dust was deposited in the frog’s protected habitat between October 4 and 19, 2022.“In doing so, the Commission failed to comply with a condition of its permit and committed an offence under the Act,” inspectors stated. No frogs were known to be harmed.The Western Chorus Frog, native to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River regions, is protected by a federal Emergency Order due to significant population declines of 37% in Quebec and 43% in Ontario over the past decade. The order strictly prohibits activities such as digging, vegetation removal, altering surface water, or constructing infrastructure in designated habitats.The Emergency Order has had wide-ranging effects, including halting the development of a $22.3 million subdivision in La Prairie, Quebec. Permits issued in 2008 to drain a swamp for the project were suspended after environmental groups intervened to protect the frog’s habitat. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the order in 2020, ruling that private property owners were not entitled to compensation for restrictions on their land use.“Suburban sprawl and changes in farming practices are contributing to the ongoing destruction of Western Chorus Frog habitats and are thereby threatening the species’ survival in Canada,” wrote Federal Court Justice Luc Martineau in a 2015 ruling.Despite challenges, developers like Habitations Îlot St-Jacques Inc. have failed to overturn the protections. “From 1995 to 2006, population numbers at Ontario sites decreased at an estimated rate of 3.5% per year,” the Department of Environment noted in a regulatory notice. “In many cases where populations have declined because of land use, the populations have not recovered.”
