In 2013, Quebec did pass a new act called the Sustainable Forest Development Act. In that act, consideration of biodiversity and development, which was called “ecosystemic”, was at the heart of the new regime. In 2016, Quebec consistently adopted a process to develop a strategy to conserve biodiversity, including caribou. That was part of our national sustainable forest management strategy.
The problem is that it came to a halt in 2021. The collaborative processes that were supposed to allow us to develop our solutions were blocked. Since then, the debate has become ideological, and we are unable to try to find compromise solutions. Furthermore, we knew that the Pipmuacan reservoir sector was probably the area in Quebec where the challenge was greatest. We also knew that Boisaco would probably be greatly affected and threatened, hence the idea of pooling the impact, of finding other sources of supply, so that Boisaco wouldn't have to shoulder the burden of the boreal caribou issue.