The Île Gagnon real estate development project: incompatible with the conservation and protection mission of Parc de la Rivière-des-Milles-Îles

Laval, Monday, July 27, 2020 - For 35 years, Éco-Nature has been working in concert with citizens, riverside towns and governments to protect the Mille Îles River. Over the years, nearly $225 million has been invested to preserve these exceptional ecosystems, clean up the river's water, and develop its islands and shores with the aim of offering an increasingly varied range of nature discovery activities.

"The Park is a lively, welcoming place. We have chosen to protect a common asset, an investment that we hope will last for hundreds of years to come. We didn't do it just for people, but also for the wildlife," explains Jean Lauzon, co-founder of the Park and still active with Éco-Nature.

Île Gagnon, the site of Novatek's development project, faces the Park's main gateway, the Garrot riverbank, along its entire length. Located some 70 m from the place where visitors launch their boats, this real estate and recreational project would permanently alter the tranquility of this oasis in the heart of the city, in addition to presenting significant environmental challenges.

The Île Gagnon project and the shoreline portion of the Place Sainte-Rose project are both incompatible with the Park's mission of protection, conservation and enhancement, both in their deployment and in their choice of proposed sites. These projects would cause significant and permanent damage to the Sainte-Rose archipelago, located right in the heart of the Park, in addition to having negative repercussions on the future deployment of a range of services providing access to the river from west to east, over a distance of 42 km. For the collective good, let's protect the river and propose projects that allow more citizens to enjoy it.

Confering a protective designation on Île Gagnon

For all these reasons, Éco-Nature is asking the city to give Île Gagnon the protective designation it was given in the first two versions of the revised land use plan. The organization is also asking the city to set up a land reserve on the lands affected by the Île Gagnon project and the Place Sainte-Rose waterfront development. This measure would leave space for discussion and time for consultation with citizens and organizations. It would also provide the necessary hindsight to find solutions that respect the principles of sustainable development.

Éco-Nature submitted a brief during the consultations on the revision of the land use plan. The brief included the following recommendations:

• Recognize the importance and role of Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles and make it
• Aim for 17% (CMM target) as the minimum threshold of protected territory, rather than the current 14%.
• Create protected natural corridors to interconnect habitats.
• Increase density near downtown and reduce it on the edges of natural environments of the Mille Îles and des Prairies rivers.
• Limit buildings along rivers to two storeys, so as not to exceed the height of the canopy; gradually increase this height away from rivers.
• Clarify the notion of landscape, as natural heritage is a determining factor in the structural integrity of the territory.

Significant economic benefits

Continued investment to develop a major conservation park and ensure long-term access to nature

With the unprecedented development experienced by Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles in recent years, the park has every potential to position itself as a major regional conservation park. Following the example of Gatineau Park, which welcomes over 600,000 unique visitors annually and generates regional economic benefits of $184 million (2015), Parc de la Rivière-des-Mille-Îles could, with targeted developments, serve the Greater Montreal population of over 4 million people, more than ever in search of contact with nature and outdoor activities.

Its annual clientele is growing rapidly, by more than 15% over the last 3 years, with 155,000 visitors in 2019. The Garrot riverbank, the main visitor site, will be completely redeveloped in 2020 to prevent degradation of the shoreline and mitigate the impact of enhancement activities linked to increased visitor numbers.

This site has benefited from investments of nearly $15 million from the City of Laval, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) and government partners, as the Park was one of four major metropolitan projects targeted as part of Phase I of the CMM's deployment of the Trame verte et bleue. This support has enabled the Park to equip itself with a world-class visitor center. Its new Leed Gold-certified Exploration Center was also awarded the prestigious Excellence tourisme 2019 prize in the Innovation and Offer Development Initiative category. These new facilities have enabled the Park to obtain accreditation as a science museum for the quality of its inert, but also living, collection.

The CMM has just launched Phase II of the development of the Trame verte et bleue. The Park, along with its regional partners, would like to submit a project for the implementation of an ecological, utilitarian and recreational transportation network on the river and along its banks. The network will offer customers self-guided tours, an electric shuttle boat service, and the rental of various boats, bicycles and electric bikes. This new range of services will reduce pressure on the Laval host site, increase accessibility for residents of all riverside towns, and create the connectivity the Park needs to pursue its enhancement mission and create the civic engagement required to ensure the sustainability of its ecosystems.

Asserting its status as a protected area: major project to expand the wildlife refuge

The implementation of this network is supported by another major project: the expansion of the Rivière-des-Mille-Îles wildlife refuge. Considerable effort has been invested over the past 10 years to expand this protected area from 26 ha to 500 ha, making the Park one of the largest wildlife refuges in the province.

This project aims to maintain rich natural environments in Quebec's most densely populated region, where the ecological services provided by natural environments are all the more important: reducing the impact of flooding and heat islands, ensuring a quality drinking water supply for over 500,000 citizens, providing a healthy living environment and supporting an unimagined biodiversity in the greater metropolitan area.

Thanks to Éco-Nature's interventions, the river's biodiversity has remained exceptional: the Park is home to two-thirds of Quebec's vertebrate wildlife species. However, the list of species at risk or of precarious status observed on the Park's territory continues to grow, reaching 92 species today. In a territory that is already largely fragmented and fragile, urban pressure is still present, with less than a third of the shoreline preserved in its natural state.

A regional vision for the development of a large conservation park

These actions are in line with the City of Laval's vision for the river's future. "The Rivière-des-Mille-Îles archipelago is identified in the PMAD [Plan métropolitain d'aménagement et de développement] as a heritage site of metropolitan interest. In fact, in addition to its ecological interest, its heritage value lies in its natural character and the views it offers of the river, islands and banks." - (Translation) Excerpt from the Schéma d'aménagement et de développement révisé de ville de Laval (2017).

Thus, the Schéma d'aménagement identifies it as a zone d'aménagement écologique particulière (ZAEP), planning to limit authorized uses by proposing eco-responsible development guidelines. The Rivière des Mille Îles has also been identified by the city as an ecological corridor.

Éco-Nature recognizes the importance of private investment in revitalizing regions. However, these investments must be located in appropriate zones, to avoid interfering with booming development projects that are already bringing significant benefits to the region. In this respect, the City of Laval has identified seven TOD (transit-oriented development) areas in its development plan, including the Sainte-Rose train station; it prioritizes densification in these zones.

For 35 years, Éco-Nature has been working to protect, conserve and enhance the Rivière des Mille Îles, its tributaries, banks and islands, with the support and for the benefit of the community. We must continue this mission and ensure the long-term survival of this public asset.