MiningWatch Canada and the Coalition Québec Meilleure Mine hereby submit their joint comments on the Government of Canada's Emergency Order to Protect Boreal Caribou Habitat in Quebec (hereinafter, the "Federal Order") as part of the consultation process announced on June 19, 2024 and ending today.
Acknowledging the obligations of Canada's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change to act to ensure the protection and recovery of the boreal caribou and its habitat, we believe that the Government of Canada's proposed emergency order to protect boreal caribou habitat in Quebec must be improved.
By underlining the Government of Canada's recognition of the importance of "prohibiting activities likely to harm the species and its habitat" and by taking into account that all mining activities pose an imminent threat to the survival of caribou, it is with this in mind that we recommend that Canada's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change amend his draft decree by repealing the exclusions concerning mining activities, and by prohibiting all mining activities within provisional zones, regardless of their stage of development or the mineral substances sought.