Les Entreprises Antoine Stabile & fils inc. has been fined $25,000 for violating the Species at Risk Act

December 19, 2023 – Longueuil, Quebec – Environment and Climate Change Canada

On December 14, 2023, at the Longueuil courthouse, Les Entreprises Antoine Stabile & fils inc. pleaded guilty to one count 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), in contravention of the Species at Risk Act. The company was fined $25,000. The fine will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada.

On November 7, 2022, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers responded to a report of machinery being operated in the Emergency Order area in La Prairie. The investigation revealed that between October 27 and November 7, 2022, Les Entreprises Antoine Stabile & fils inc. operated heavy machinery 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 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 and the damaging or destroying of its habitat.

Quick facts

• The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence–Canadian Shield population of the Western Chorus Frog has been listed as threatened on 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 two km2 of partially developed land, a portion of which includes land that is part of 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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