Published April 4, 2024

FREDERIC SERRE
The 1019 Report

A Montérégie man has been fined more than $24,000 by Quebec’s Environment Ministry for illegally cutting trees on a property identified as a wetland in St. Polycarpe.

While the deforestation was carried out between September 2018 and August 2019, the Ministère de l’environnement announced the fine last week. Ste. Justine de Newton resident Ian James MacCuaig was found guilty last October.

MacCuaig was charged with violating the province’s Environment Quality Act, which was introduced in March 2018. He was fined a total of $24,029.

The province alleged that MacCuaig carried out deforestation work in a wetland, located in the municipality of St. Polycarpe, without first obtaining authorization from the ministry, thereby contravening article 22, paragraph 2, of the Environment Quality Act. It is not known how many trees were cut or the size of the tract of land involved.

According to the act, deforestation in wetlands disrupts hydrological functions and impacts soil, vegetation and wildlife, representing a significant threat to the environment.

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