Two Quebec residents fined a total of $10,000 for violating the Species at Risk Act

May 9, 2024 – Longueuil, Quebec – Environment and Climate Change Canada

On February 29, 2024, at the Longueuil Courthouse, Émile Archambault and Cédrik Archambault pleaded guilty to three counts each of violating prohibitions under the Emergency Order for the Protection of the Western Chorus Frog Great Lakes / St. Lawrence — Canadian Shield Population (the Emergency Order), contrary to the Species at Risk Act. They were each fined a total of $5,000. The fines will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada.

In July 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers went to La Prairie and noted motor vehicle tracks in the area protected by the Emergency Order. The investigation revealed that the two individuals had repeatedly driven an all-terrain vehicle in the Emergency Order area. In so doing, they violated subsection 2(1) of the Emergency Order.

A violation of the provisions of an emergency order constitutes an offence under the Species at Risk Act (the Act). The Emergency Order prohibits the use of any on- or off-road vehicle anywhere other than on a road or paved path. The Act prohibits killing or harming a wildlife species that is listed as threatened, as well as damaging or destroying its habitat.

The investigation was conducted in collaboration with the Régie intermunicipale de police Roussillon (the Roussillon Intermunicipal Board of Police). The operation, which lasted several days, was aimed at stopping vehicle traffic in the area protected by the Emergency Order. Following the interventions, the enforcement officers observed a significant reduction in traffic in the Emergency Order area.

Quick facts

• Émile Archambault and Cédrik Archambault were each fined $1,000 for events that occurred on July 19, 2023; a fine of $2,000 for events that occurred on July 20, 2023; and another fine of $2,000 for events that occurred on July 24, 2023.
• The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence — Canadian Shield population of the Western Chorus Frog has been listed as threatened in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act since 2010.
• On June 22, 2016, the Government of Canada announced an emergency order to protect the Western Chorus Frog in the municipalities of La Prairie, Candiac, and Saint-Philippe, near Montréal, Quebec. The Order’s enforcement area is approximately 2 km² of partially developed land, a portion of which has been set aside as the Smitter’s Marsh conservation park.
• The prohibitions set out in the Emergency Order aim to prevent the degradation or loss of habitat needed by the Western Chorus Frog for its recovery and to prevent activities that could harm the species.

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