CPAWS Québec welcomes Bill 18

Media release For immediate release Québec, May 26 2011 - With parliamentary committee hearings beginning this morning on Bill 18, CPAWS Québec wishes to express its strong support for this legislation that will ban oil and gas activity in the St-Lawrence River and its islands, between the Ontario border and the island of Anticosti. Clearing the way for marine protected areas The area targeted by Bill 18 includes a marine portion of the St-Lawrence, located roughly between Orléans island and the western tip of the island of Anticosti. For CPAWS Québec, this bill is an important step towards the creation of new marine protected areas (MPAs), since oil and gas permits are typically a major obstacle to the creation of these areas. According to Jérôme Spaggiari, Conservation Coordinator at CPAWS Québec: « This legal recognition of the vulnerability of the St-Lawrence ecosystem, particularly with respect to oil and gas activity, should help achieve protection for long-standing MPA projects such as Manicouagan and the St-Lawrence estuary ». Protecting these sites would contribute to the ambitious conservation objective announced last week by Minister Pierre Arcand, namely to protect 10% of Québec's waters as MPAs by 2015. Caution also needed in the Gulf of St-Lawrence The entire St-Lawrence system, including the river, estuary, and gulf portions, is a globally significant ecosystem. Its exceptional nature and its vulnerability warrant increased protection measures, and better taking into account of the needs of stakeholder groups such as fisheries, tourism, and coastal populations. To this effect, Bill 18 is great news because it grants protection from oil and gas activity for a large swath of the St-Lawrence system. However, this ban does not extend to the Québec portion of the Gulf of St-Lawrence, where the Old Harry prospect is located. This sector of the gulf is currently undergoing a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA2), for which conclusions are not expected prior to the end of 2012. « It will be essential to wait for the conclusions of SEA2 prior to making any decisions on future oil and gas activity in the Gulf of St-Lawrence », warns Sylvain Archambault, Protected Areas Coordinator at CPAWS Québec. The precautionary principle should guide our actions in the entire St-Lawrence ecosystem, including proposed drilling at the Old Harry prospect, for which the St-Lawrence Coalition is calling upon the federal government to establish a federal review panel. - 30 - The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1963 and dedicated to wilderness protection. As a national charity with 13 chapters, including CPAWS Québec, CPAWS works collaboratively with governments, local communities, industry and indigenous peoples to protect our country’s amazing natural places. CPAWS Québec is a founding member of the St-Lawrence Coalition (www.stlawrencecoalition.ca), which is appearing today before the parliamentary committee on Bill 18.