Port of Montreal expansion had inadequate consultation on endangered fish: Bloc MP

OTTAWA — Ottawa oversaw an inadequate consultation on mitigation plans for an endangered fish species threatened by the Port of Montreal expansion, a Bloc Québécois MP charged on Monday.

Officials from the Montreal Port Authority told MPs on the House of Commons environment committee the consultation process yielded no feedback from concerned environmental groups before the project received a special federal permit to move forward.

But Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin pointed out the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada did not issue a notification to alert interested groups the consultation window was open.

Bonin called on the Port Authority to conduct a proper assessment, while Port Authority officials repeatedly maintained they had met all their legal obligations.

“Such a situation would have financial impacts and important delays on the project,” said Julien Baudry, Port Authority chief of staff and vice president of communications.

“We’ve respected the steps required by law.”

The expansion at Contrecœur, about 45 kilometres northeast of Montreal, is expected to expand the port’s capacity to an estimated 1.5 million containers annually.

It was on the first list of projects referred by the federal government to the Major Projects Office and announced in September.

But the construction area is in the feeding ground of the copper redhorse, a freshwater fish found only in Canada. Environment Canada says it is only found in a few rivers in the St. Lawrence Plain.

It was listed on the federal Species at Risk registry in 2007. The law says “critical habitat” for listed endangered species can’t be destroyed.

The Montreal Port Authority says to help offset the impact of the port expansion, it plans to build a new feeding area for the endangered fish next summer by planting more than three hectares of seagrass downriver. The plan received federal approval this fall.

Officials from the Impact Assessment Agency told the committee Monday no alert was sent out when the 30-day consultation period opened, though it said it published the notice of intent and it was posted by the port authority on its website.

After the committee hearing, Bonin told The Canadian Press the Impact Assessment Agency must ensure the evaluation process is adequate.

“They should ensure that we don’t bypass the obligations, and that the quality of the evaluations meet the standard that an endangered species deserves,” he said in French.

Bonin said many reputable environmental groups wanted to weigh in on the plan.

“Nobody got the chance to intervene, or were informed. These are groups that follow very closely,” he said.

He said it’s impossible for people to visit the site for updates on every project, noting the agency assesses hundreds of projects at a time.

“That’s why there’s a notification system that exists so that when there are updates to specific files, people can be informed,” he said.

Patricia Brady, the agency’s vice president of strategic policy, told committee members the agency doesn’t conduct audits to make sure proponents are meeting their obligations.

“In this case the notice of intent was, in fact, posted. That’s the only requirement in the act,” Brady said. “And so it was done.”

A motion by Bonin for the committee to call on the government to halt the port’s work pending a new 30-day consultation was opposed by the Liberals and Conservatives.

“What we’re looking at is a project that is strategic to Canada’s economic future. I don’t know how we diversify our markets internationally without the capacity to ship goods,” said Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy.

While Bonin brought the issue forward for an emergency study by the committee on environmental grounds, Conservative committee members used the occasion to recall Dawn Farrell, the CEO of the government’s new Major Projects Office (MPO), to answer more questions on her office’s work.

The Montreal Port expansion was on the first list of major projects Ottawa referred to the MPO in September. The special permit for the new seabed grass came a few weeks later, raising questions about whether the MPO played a role in getting the permit issued.

“Everything is evolving very quickly. And that is the nature of the questions we have. How are these rules working, and how is all of this coming about in the way it is?” said Conservative MP David Bexte on Nov. 3 in moving for the committee to summon Farrell.

In her opening remarks Monday, Farrell said the work on the special permit was well underway before the port expansion was referred to her office, and the MPO had no role in the permit being issued.

“In this case, almost exclusively the work (of the MPO) will be on the financing of the project. We need about $2.3 billion to finish building Contrecoeur,” Farrell told the committee.

“We do not see a need to do (permitting) work. The Port of Montreal is well ahead in that work and has already undertaken most of that work. So we don’t see any regulatory streamlining there.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 17, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press