Andrew McClelland
The Advocate

The ongoing battle between the CPTAQ and the many businesses that have developed the land that is now occupied by La Sucrerie Bonaventure and Microbrasserie L’Entêté puts the Union des producteurs agricoles in a tough position.

While conceding that many producers, like Alexandre Ladouceur, who owns the operations, have to diversify income sources, the UPA acknowledges the authority of the CPTAQ to protect Quebec’s farmland and maintains that repeated offences are rare.

“Sometimes (infractions) can be due to a lack of knowledge of the law or the rules in place,” said Jessica Blackburn, press relations officer for the UPA. “In some cases, it may be an instance of bad faith.”

For Marcel Denis, president of UPA Sainte-Scholastique–Mirabel, the matter finally rests with the courts and making sure all agricultural producers follow the rules.

“The Ladouceur family are a family I’ve known for 30 years,” Denis told The Advocate. “They’re good producers. But, in the end, it doesn’t matter what I think. You have to have the right permit to do something and develop your farmland. You can’t go above the law.”

As the local UPA representative for the territory that Ladouceur’s companies operate in, Denis says he has had plenty of producers approach him with plans to create similar agri-related businesses to draw customers.

“Producers from the area see the business La Sucrerie is bringing in, and they get ideas,” Denis said. “I had a producer tell me, ‘I got my permit from the City of Mirabel for my own sucrerie.” and I tell them: ‘A permit from the city is not the same thing as a permit from the CPTAQ.’”

Denis, a maple producer himself, admits that, whatever success the businesses are having, La Sucrerie Bonaventure and Microbrasserie L’Entêté are “stretching the elastic” of what “agri-tourism” really is.

“There’s no actual maple production being done there,” Denis said. “I was at the CPTAQ hearing and that’s what they said themselves.

“And when it comes to hosting a rodeo that causes a traffic jam because it’s a huge success, you have to ask yourself: Where is the limit on what is agriculture?”

Ultimately, for Denis and the UPA, the matter comes down to the letter of the law.

“If you don’t have a driver’s licence, you can’t drive. If you don’t have a building permit, you can’t build. And this case is as simple as that.”