Hudson, QC, March 21, 2023 – Lawyers allied to the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE), on behalf of Nature Hudson and the Legacy Fund for the Environment, sent an official letter to the Minister of the Environment (MELCCFP), but have received no response after more than thirty days.  In this letter, the two organizations provide new information and ask the Minister to exercise his legal powers with respect to the housing development project (Project) planned for the Sandy Beach woodlands and wetlands in Hudson. 

Specifically, it is asked that the MELCCFP submit the Project to a new environmental analysis which would take into account the new information which was provided to him. Meanwhile, the Minister could suspend the authorization for the planned work, but he has not answered the letter.

The 2021 TerraHumana Solutions study has revealed the presence of 29 at-risk species, and a total of 354 plant and animal species, and concludes that the wetlands in Sandy Beach are more extensive than was initially mapped and identified in the developer’s plans. In addition, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) has acknowledged that this area contains both a woodland and a wetland of metropolitan interest (CMM 2022). 

The lawyers for the two organizations consider that the MELCCFP cannot legally tolerate certain work authorized in 2014, such as filling in wetlands, before a new environmental analysis is completed, which takes into account this new information about this biodiverse and irreplaceable ecosystem on the Ottawa River.

“For two years, we have done everything we can to protect this natural gem which is dear to our heart. We have commissioned an independent study, we have written to the Minister, we have called upon our municipality, we have solicited the media. What more can we do? What will the Minister do?” asks Adrian Burke, a volunteer representing Nature Hudson.

“This is a worrisome situation. When new, relevant, information is provided to him, the Minister of the Environment must take it into account. It will be important to act quickly to protect this natural space, in the context of the current crisis of biodiversity loss,” adds Marc Bishai, lawyer allied to the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE) representing the two organizations.